


Every Journey Starts Somewhere

by The_Hopefull_Pessimist



Series: Chloe Kane [3]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012), Batwoman (TV 2019), DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe, Bad Decisions, Bats are not the best with feelings, Rough Sex, Smut, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-30
Updated: 2020-10-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:48:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 40,593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25536091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Hopefull_Pessimist/pseuds/The_Hopefull_Pessimist
Summary: Two years ago I left Gotham because I needed to become someone else, something else. A couple months ago I returned because after everything I did when I was gone I was still lost. Now I have a chance to do something completely new, become something completely new.
Relationships: Kendra Saunders/Original Female Character(s), Ray Palmer/Kendra Saunders, Ray Palmer/Original Female Character(s), Sara Lance/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Chloe Kane [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1803181
Kudos: 9





	1. Sara

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to the first book in my series. If you haven't already I recommend going back and reading Prologue which sets up my series and introduces my main charachter Chloe. If you have already read Prologue I thank you and hope you enjoyed it and that's why you're here.  
> If you haven't already figured this out my OFC lives in the Arrowverse, and though in Prologue (which you really should read before continuing on) we glimpsed some Arroverse characters and storylines we did not officially enter the any of the main continuums. This chapter is where Chloe truly jumps into the continuum and meets some of the main characters in the Arrowverse though she won't be joining the cast of the show she is introduced to this chapter.  
> As always I welcome feedback and constructive criticism I want to know what you think, I also welcome requests for specific storylines within my main continuity.  
> And now on with the show.

The sound of a cell phone rang through the air as a foot stomped out a cigarette.

“Oliver”

“John”

“It’s been a dog's age, mate.”

“More than. Do you remember that favor you owe me?”

“I hardly expect you to let me forget about that.”

“How quickly can you get to Star City? I need your help.”

“Not very I’m afraid, but I do know just the person who can.”

* * *

As I was riding the highway into Star I recalled the conversation from that morning which had led me here.

_ I climbed out of the bed. “Hello to you too, John,” I said lowly, slipping into one of Dion’s shirts as I walked into the hall. Gently closing the door behind me, “Do you have any idea what time it is here in Gotham?” I practically growled. _

_ “No. I need you for a job.” John said. _

_ I closed my eyes groaning, “and you can’t go yourself because?” _

_ “I’m busy, love. And if the rumors are true you have nothing better to do.” _

_ I sighed and resigned to my fate, I responded, “Where am I going?” _

_ “Star City, love. I owe a favor to Oliver Queen, and you're going to fill it.” _

I could feel the shift as I started to feel my emotions as the last vestiges of Dion’s power left my system.

There was something hanging in the air as I entered Star, a presence that set my heart racing. There was something here that was dangerous.

I pulled into the alley behind some building rolling up to Oliver Queen in this ridiculous green getup. I pulled off my helmet as I climbed off the bike, “Oliver Queen I presume, or do you prefer the Green Arrow?”

“Just Oliver is fine.”

“Chloe Kane,” I offered as he led me through the back door and onto an elevator. As the doors opened I could see four people lingering around the room a fifth strapped to a table. The air was permeated with the overwhelming mix of pheromones from multiple alphas so much so that it was practically naseauting, it was practically impossible to detect the sweeter smell of an omega.

“Thea, Felicity, Laurel, and Diggle” said Oliver pointing to each in turn and gesturing to me “Guys, Chloe Kane.” Then moving us passed them, he gestured at the woman on the table, “this is Sara.”

“So you’re going to perform some kind of exorcism on my sister?” the Alpha called Laurel said, holding up a truly pathetic copy of John’s business cards that I briefly eyed in disgust.

I moved to examine Sara closer, twisting a tendril of my power through her before responding, “Absolutely not, an exorcism is a removal of demonic possession. Your sister is currently an empty shell.” I went on explaining, “What your sister needs is a retitutionem, a restoration of her soul to her body.”

“And this is something you can do?” The Alpha Thea asked, voicing the uncertainty of everyone else in the room.

“Yes”

“I’m sure we have a lot of work to do to prepare. I assume you brought a list?” Oliver said before anyone could start any lines of questioning.

Casually twisting my fingers in the air I pulled a small scroll from my pocket dimension. “Sorry, I didn’t have time to translate that from its original aramaic” I said holding it out, I smirked lightly at the barely disguised looks of shock in their eyes at my casual magic use. Felicity, the lone Omega, unfurled the small scroll looking back up as if disturbed it was actually untranslated.  _ I mean really what did they expect with how short notice this all was for me. _

* * *

Oliver carried Sara placing her in the center of the sigil that had been so carefully painted on the ground. Four lit candles having been placed in the cardinal points around the sigil.

The elevator doors opened signaling the arrival of an Alpha about my father’s age that I had been told was Sara and Laurel’s father, Quentin Lance. He walked up the stairs joining us on the center platform saying to Laurel, “I’m her father too.”

Diggle looked towards me in askance, “I hate to be the one to say this, but what if something goes wrong?”

“It won’t,” I said confident in my abilities, “But well if things go wrong, we’ll all be too dead to care.”

Holding out a small cauldron, “I think I got everything in here that you wanted,” Felicity said, while looking vaguely disgusted with the contents.

“Ah, Thank you.” I said grabbing the cauldron, I held it up for all to see. “Now, I've only got enough juice to send myself and two of you to the other realm and back,” I said knowing that I could probably take more but preferred to hedge my bets towards survival, and making sure I would have the power to fix anything that actually did go wrong. Thea tried to offer herself up for the task which I quickly shut down as not likely to work considering the circumstances. Oliver drew Laurel towards Sara with some pretty words about trust as I settled the cauldron at the edge of the sigil above Sara’s head. Oliver and Laurel joined hands above Sara’s body “Oh, there’s, uh, one more thing. Whatever’s locked her soul away, is not going to give it up without a fight. So be ready.” I told them. “Alright then.” I began flicking a flame from the tips of my finger in a show of casual magic. “On with the show,” I said with a small smile as I bent to light the contents of the cauldron in flames.

I held out my hands above the flame and started chanting. “Pelako Ameso yobe eleggua. imbone ukuchila panshita. De domino vestro, alquis.” I could feel the magic building hear things rattling around the room. “Et stabit de domino vestro audite vocem meam. Anchor, anchor, Candones helosi et vos eleutis phugori,” I paused as the magic reached its crescendo “De cruinne-ce agus akasha seall me do solas!”

I stumbled bending slightly at the waist to catch my breath, “Well I’ve had worse hangovers.” I huffed. I straightened, pushing back against the feeling of longing that overtook me nowadays without a pack to ground me.

“So what are we supposed to do now?” Oliver asked, looking around at the unfamiliar place.

“Help!” voice called.

“Laurel, no!” I cried as she tried to run towards the voice.

Within moments we ran right back into the room we had just exited, “This is new.” Oliver says.

I close my eyes briefly. “Well, new, is why I’m here isn’t.”

“Help!” came the voice again.

“No, no, no, no.” I said managing to intercept Laurel’s attempt to run towards the voice again know exactly how stupid it would be to be lost or seperated while here.

“Well, I’m not gonna just stand here,” she exclaimed, gesturing wildly.

“We need a tour guide.” I said, pulling out some random trinket. I set it on the ground chanting, “Axis mundi, produco tuus vires.” It started spinning slowly rising from the ground. It finally stopped spinning indicating which way we needed to go. I grabbed it from the air, “This way, unless you want to be trapped here for all eternity” I said looking back towards Oliver and Laurel. They followed me out of the room.

“This is what locked away Sara’s soul?” Laurel said as we entered the room containing the manifestation of Sara’s purgatory.

“How the human mind perceives it, anyway.” I said.

“Help!” Sara cried.

Oliver quickly dispatched the two guards in the room allowing Laurel to run forwards reaching out to Sara. Another guard entered the room. “Help Laurel” I said to Oliver, speaking quickly, “It’ll take both of you to get her out. I'll handle him.”

Turning to the new guy, I grabbed a fallen sword off the ground and lunged, we clashed swords. One, two, three lunges until finally we were pulled back to our bodies. I stepped back, taking a quick breath, as I shook off the remnants of the spell.

I leaned against the work table behind me as the Lances reunited.

* * *

As Oliver guided me to the elevator, “Thanks Chloe, I owe you one.”

“As I recall I owed John, who owed you, with this two debts are cleared.” 

Oliver chuckled, “How about any time, anywhere you need me, I’ll be there.”

“I suppose I could take you up on that.”  _ Having an Alpha like him as a friend can’t hurt.  _ “You know there’s something hanging in the air here in Star.” I said figuring a little warning might not be misplaced.

“That is probably our current problem -- Damian Darhk.” I looked at him with piercing eyes that asked the question if he was serious. “Ohh, you’ve heard of him.” he said reading the look in my eye.

“Look if there is any truth to the stories about him then you truly want to get very far from whatever he is planning.”

“Any helpful advice?”

“Yep find someplace else to live.”

* * *

I stood beside my bike and called John giving him the full run down including the bit about Damian Darhk’s presence in Star City. Hanging up on John I hopped on my bike but before I could leave I sensed a presence coming up to me. I turned to see Sara, “Hey,” she said as she walked closer, “I know we haven’t really been introduced, but I’m Sara and I wanted to thank you for … well, you know, saving my soul.”

I could smell her clearer now that there weren’t five other alpha scents around, hers was a light earthy smell, like a forest after rain. I chuckled lightly, “You’re welcome, Sara. It’s Chloe, by the way.”

Hopping back on my bike as she went back inside, I quickly made my way out of town, abandoning my early plans of staying for the night to rest before driving back. I knew that staying in town was a horrible idea. And with nothing to distract me my emotions, my longing crept back in. I longed for the stability of a pack which didn’t exist anymore, but I knew something that would give me an escape and I knew exactly where I could get it.


	2. Pilot 1/2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so Chloe begins her journey.  
> Formating notes:  
> Anything in Bold Italics is Gideon  
> Anything in Italics are thoughts

**_How did the council meeting go Captain Hunter?_ **

“Exactly as expected, Gideon.”

**_So we are proceeding?_ **

“Indeed. Prepare the Waverider for takeoff. Set a course. United States. Star City. January, 2016.”

**_Ah, the early second millennium A.D. The golden age of gasoline engines, online pornography, and those silly little smartphones. What are we going to retrieve, Captain._ **

“Oh, not what. Who. I need you to pull up some files, Gideon. The nine men and women who’ll be joining us on our little crusade.” 

**_You usually prefer to work alone, Captain._ **

“This time, I’ll need a team.”

* * *

Star City

“First recruit: Dr. Raymond Palmer. Alpha. Also known as the Atom.”

Tibet

“Next recruit: Sara Lance. Alpha, Former member of the League of Assassins, also formerly dead.”

Pittsburgh

“Firestorm, the merged super-form of Betas Jefferson Jackson and Professor Martin Stein.”

St. Roch

“Kendra Saunders Alpha and Carter Hall Beta. The latest reincarnations of Hawkman and Hawkgirl.”

Central City

**_There seems to be an error, Captain. These candidates Beta Leonard Snart and Alpha Mick Rory, are a pair of criminals._ **

“There’s no error, Gideon.”

Gotham

“Last recruit, Chloe Kane. Omega and one of the world’s most powerful magic users to date.”

* * *

Blinking up at the night sky, I vaguely registered that I was no longer at the Sigma house but on some random rooftop. Registering movement on my left I turned my head to see I was one of nine people laying in a line and the only person I even vaguely recognized was Sara Lance. Coming into full awareness we all started standing up.

“Aah. What a headache!” said the scruffiest among us and if I was scenting him right an alpha. 

“Stein? What the hell are you doing here?” came from the weirdo beta wearing a full winter coat in the warm weather.

“I’m as ignorant as you, for once.” responded the old beta.

“Where are we?” a sensible response from resurrection girl.

“How did we get here?” another good question from yours truly.

“Why don’t you ask the dude who knocked us out and kidnapped us? British dude with a flashy thing? Ring any bells?” piped in the beta who looked closest to me age wise.

“The name’s Rip Hunter. I’m from East London. Oh, and the future.” chimed in the brit who had apparently kidnapped us all. _Did he just say he was from the future?_

“Nice to meet you, Rip.” came scruffy while reaching towards his side.

“I’m sorry, did he just say the future?” I voiced my thoughts aloud.

“Uh, while you were incapacitated, I may have tampered with your weapons.” the brit said looking to the side a bit. “I’ve assembled you all because I need your help. The future of the world is in peril because of a man by the name of Vandal Savage.” 

“That can’t be. We destroyed him.” came from a weird squirrely looking beta.

“Yeah, the Green Arrow and Flash helped us do it,” added the alpha woman next to him.

“And therein lay the problem. Unless you or Mr. Hall delivers the death blow, savage can be restored from but a single cell.” Mr brit seemed to have a comeback to everything.

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“Vandal is immortal. Kendra and I reincarnate.”

“Yeah, I’ve done that.”

I shook my head, “Reincarnation and resurrection, messy business always.”

“What the hell does this Randall guy got to do with us?” A very pertinent question from mcscruffy.

“Vandal. In the future, he will employ the evil he’s perfected over his long life, and the power he has amassed throughout history, to finally conquer the world. I’ve been tasked with assembling an elite team to stop him.” I could tell that was a lie.

“How?” Questioned Sara.

“To travel through time. To capture Savage before he grows into the monster he becomes.”

“You got the wrong guy. ‘Hero’ ain’t on my resume.” came from the winter coat.

“Or mine.” said McScruffy.

“I know it’s difficult for you to fathom, but where -- when I’m from, the year 2166, you and everyone on this roof aren’t just considered heroes … You’re legends.” That bit about legends was also a lie but obviously I was the only one who picked up on it. 

“Legends?”

“I, um, I hate to nitpick, but doesn’t a legend have to be dead?”

“Yeah, see, uh, that’s the deal breaker for me, so I’m gonna pass.”

“It’s dangerous for any of you to know too much about your own futures, but I am here because each of you, as individuals, is destined for greatness.”

“I could get behind that.”

“And because if you don’t follow me, this is what is in store for your world 150 years from now.” Mr Brit flicked to life a holograph that showed a world filled with devastation. “I could have chosen any time and any place. Of all the people who ever lived, I choose you nine. I certainly hope that you won’t let me, and the world down. If your answer is yes meet me at this address in 36 hours.”

“How do we know you aren’t a liar?”

“I guess you just have to trust me.” _Trust I don’t think so but maybe._

* * *

I slipped off the elevator hoping that everyone was already asleep, I turned to head straight for my room. “Ahem,” came from the couch looking over, I saw my sister staring at me with an intense look in her eyes. “Where have you been? Mom and dad have been calling you for hours.”

“My phone died.” I responded.

“Your phone died, is that the best you can do? Chloe we’re all worried. When you came back to Gotham we thought you were doing better. Instead you’re rarely home, you practically live at the Sigma house down at Hudson, and when you do come home you’re practically falling through the door.”

I deflated, “I know, I came back to Gotham because I wanted to try, but I can barely stand to be anywhere in the city.”

“Maybe you should move somewhere else, somewhere not Gotham at least until living in Gotham isn’t unbearable. I mean the constant partying isn’t sustainable and it isn’t healthy.”

“I got an invite to travel with a group for a while. The only thing is I’d have to leave tomorrow.”

“Travel where?”

“Everywhere.” I paused “I think I’m going to go.” I needed to get away from Gotham and I needed to stop avoiding my problems.

* * *

I rode into the lot where whoever decided to come was supposed to meet noticing most everyone was already here. I got off my bike and gravitated towards Sara, the most familiar face, “Hey, Sara,” I nodded at her.

“So you decided to do this too?” She chuckled.

“Yeah I guess so. I mean I haven’t really got anything else to do.” We all briefly and awkwardly introduced ourselves.

Noticing a convertible pulling into the lot the seven of us moved towards the old guy getting out.

“Professor! This is the place,” called winter coat I mean Snart.

“I think we’re being punked. Do people still say ‘punked’?” Ray the boyscout alpha said.

Sara quickly shot him down, “No”

“I see your buddy threw himself a going-away party.” Carter noted, pointing towards the Beta passed out in the car.

“Yes, I believe he drank something that didn’t quite agree with him.” The professor responded a little questionably, something was definitely off there.

“You don’t look too happy to be here.” Snart comments looking at Kendra.

“Perceptive.” came her sarcastic reply.

“Well, I see you’ve all decided to come. Well then, we can be on our way.” Brit sorry Rip said unceremoniously.

“I ain’t footing it anywhere.” Snart said.

“A Time Master’s sacred charge is to do no harm to the timeline. Can you imagine what a timeship would look like in say Victorian England?”

“Holographic indigenous camouflage projection.” the professor said with awe in his voice as a huge ship appeared from nowhere.

I rolled my eyes, “You could have just said it was cloaked.”

“Indeed. It’s called the Waverider. It’s been my ship for over a decade. Shall we.” Rip headed towards the ship and we all followed, the professor asked Mick to carry the sleeping kid from his car. We all filtered into the ship and wandered off in different directions to explore the ship a little.

* * *

“How does a vessel of this size function without a crew?”

“I don't need one. I have Gideon.”

**_Welcome aboard. I am Gideon, an interactive artificial consciousness programmed to operate this vessel's critical systems and aid Captain Hunter in his mission._ **

After the computer introduced itself Rip talked a little about some professor in the seventies that could help us find this Savage guy. We all took seats on the ship’s bridge and strapped in before the ship started moving and off through time we went, _that has to be the weirdest thing anyone can ever do_ . “All your worlds are about to change.” _Yeah no kidding._

We came out in October of 1975, and my head was spinning, I could barely keep myself from puking. I felt like I was on the bad side of the worst hangover ever, I tried standing up and stumbled over thin air. The boyscout, Ray, caught me before I could fall on my ass, he sniffed lightly over my head scenting my omega scent unique in this crew.

“Oh, I should have mentioned it before. Nausea is one of the side effects of time travel, along with... Aah! Vertigo.” Rip said _the asshole could’ve warned us_.

The professor interjected worriedly, “I can't see.”

“And temporary blindness. Oh, it should only last a minute. After all, that was a mere jaunt. The further back in time you go, the worse the side effects. Better?” _A mere jaunt he says I can’t believe the side effects could get much worse._

“It's all relative.”

“Good.”

I leaned against the side of my seat as the now conscious kid, _I suppose his name is Jefferson_ , was pissed whisper yelling at the professor, “I can't believe you kidnapped me. Hey, I want to go home.” He directed towards Rip. _Kidnapping, Oh so the professor has balls._

“Good news, then. 2016 will be around in, uh, 41 years.” I chuckled under my breath at Rip’s reply, still a little dizzy but no less amused by Jefferson’s conundrum.

“Now, you four, feel free to make yourselves comfortable back here on the ship, while the rest of you are coming with me to find Professor Boardman.” Rip said pointing towards Sara, Snart, Mick, and I. We all looked at each other in disbelief.

Mick was the first to speak, “Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. You're benching us?” 

“I thought we were a team.” Sara added.

“And already this so-called team is off to a fantastic start,” I snarkily added my thoughts to the mix.

“This mission doesn't require your particular skill sets. Yet.” Rip replied.

“Meaning you don't need anyone killed, maimed, or robbed.” Snart said, boiling down four people’s skills in three words.

“Precisely.”

Ray tried to whisper to Rip, “Sure it's a good idea to leave these two unsupervised on a time machine?” _Shocking the boyscout sees things in black and white._

“What are Sara and I minced meat?” I said, as my nausea finally settled, vaguely affronted at being disregarded so easily.

“Hey, haircut! Deafness wasn't one of the side effects.” Mick said obviously insulted by Ray’s preconception.

Rip ignored Ray’s question, “We better hurry up. Professor Boardman will die in less than 24 hours.” _Obviously he has his priorities._

“What's the point in cutting it so close?” Ray asked, _full of questions isn’t he? I mean the choice in timing is deliberate for a reason, considering time masters are all about maintaining the timeline._

The professor explained haughtily, “Because if he's destined to die, then he doesn't have a timeline for us to disrupt, and his impact on the future will be minimal. How brilliant.” _Not brilliant, just common sense._

“And depressing.” Kendra said almost laughing in disbelief. _That it most certainly is._ “How does he die?” She asked, _does it really matter?_

“Uh, he's found dead in his university from unknown causes. Come on.” Rip said brusquely, _he definitely doesn’t care._

The professor looked over at Jefferson, “Are you coming?”

“I'll stay put.”

“You'd rather stay with them?” The professor responded incredulously looking over at the four of us.

“They didn't drug me.” Jefferson responded firmly.

“Point taken,” the professor said looking vaguely embarrassed. I couldn’t help but to laugh.

* * *

With half the so-called team gone the five of us that remained migrated to the console behind Rip’s seat switching it on to find something to watch. I was trying to focus inwards to calm my longing, then “Why does this stupid station play nothing but reruns?” Mick said, annoyed. _My god, the 70s only has old episodes of shows who would have thought_.

“Don't even bother trying to explain.” Jefferson told Sara when she stopped in her pacing as if to answer.

“Am I the only one on this ship who could really use a drink?” Sara said instead of addressing Mick.

I interrupted her before she could go on, “Nope, I could certainly go for one about now.” 

Sara continued “I say we go get weird in the '70s.”

“Excellent idea.” Snart said spinning around from his perch to look at Sara.

“I got the perfect outfit.” Sara said, smiling as she turned to walk away. We all rose from our various perches to follow.

**_Perhaps Captain Hunter was unclear with his instructions to remain onboard._ **

“Shut it, metal mouth.” Mick said grumpily to Gideon as we walked towards the door Sara and I in the lead.

Snart paused on his way to the door turning to Jefferson, “Oh, you're not quite ready to run with this crew,” he said. I looked back, _he’s probably about my age,_ I thought then shrugged my shoulders and kept walking, _not my problem_.

* * *

“Ah. Dollar beers. You got to love the '70s,” Mick said as he brought over a beer for each of us. “Who wants to listen to some Captain and Tennille? My mother played it. A lot.” He said before walking over to the jukebox.

“Wow, you guys are really far out.” some random chick commented on our outfits.

“I am going to need something stronger,” I said to Sara and Snart’s amusement. I turned to walk over to the bar, signaling the bartender, I said “Gin tonic.” I leaned against the bar sipping at my drink. I watched Sara hand Snart her beer before starting to dance as Snart watched her walk away with this look in his eyes.

Before long some biker guy walked up to Sara and tapped her shoulder. She turned, “Can I help you?”

The meat head responded, “Mm. How about you join me in the parking lot?”

“Hmm, tempting, but you're not my type.” Sara looked over to the girl he was with, “But your lady, on the other hand, well, she looks just my speed.” I chuckled into my drink.

Of course like meat heads do, he got pushy “Maybe you didn't understand my request, bitch.” He said as he grabbed her hand, Sara quickly flipped his hold twisting his wrist painfully before releasing him. He stumbled back towards the bar turning and grabbed an empty beer bottle with his good hand, “Son of a…”

“I got this.” Sara turned to Sart and said. Meaty smashed the beer bottle and approached Sara. She met him with a block and backhand punch to the face that made him spin. Turning to meaty’s friend she kicked him in the face sending him straight to the floor. A third guy lunged at her, she easily dodged and grabbing him by the head she slammed him to the floor. Two more guys approached her individually; she quickly and efficiently knocked them both to the floor. The five of them got up and circled her. “Now I could stand for a little help.”

Mick and Snart immediately moved to help her. I rolled my eyes and finished my drink before moving towards the idiots throwing a swift uppercut to the guy closest to me. More of meaty’s friends moved towards us joining the chaos surrounding us. Mick dragged someguy down the bar and threw him to the ground. 

“I love the '70s.”

* * *

We drove up to the field where the ship was parked and seeing the guy attacking the rest of the team Mick rammed the car into him full speed. “We go out for one lousy drink, and you guys somehow manage to pick a fight with Boba Fett. Aah.” Snart immediately commented as we got out of the car.

Everyone that had a long range attack started firing towards the Boba Fett wannabe, we forced him away from the ship so we could all board. The door to the ship closed for some reason Professor Boardman was brought along.

**_Professor Boardman has sustained severe internal injuries._ **

“Prepare the MedBay to receive Professor Boardman and get us out of here!” Rip quickly said to Gideon.

**_Course heading?_ **

“Anywhere but here!”

The ship took off and we all unstrapped and stood from our seats on the bridge.

**_Our cloaking shield and aft entrance have been significantly compromised, Captain._ **

“Yes, I can see that, Gideon. Station us in the temporal zone while I work on repairs.”

“Temporal zone?” Ray questioned.

“Yeah, it's essentially a time limbo. We can hide out there for a bit. Another temporal jump would risk revealing our position.” Rip explained as he grabbed a bag from one of the tables.

The professor looked amazed, “A time limbo? Astonishing.”

Rip moved swiftly over to an open panel in the wall, “Oh, there's something you people don't know about time travel? That's surprising, isn't it? Considering none of you have ever time traveled before. Bringing a family member from the past onto a timeship? Breaking out and carousing around the 1970s? We've barely begun, and already this is the worst, unmitigated disaster of my career.” He was obviously angry. Kendra moved towards him and as he turned around she punched him in the face.

Mick laughed out loud standing up and moving towards Carter, “I see why you got the hots for that one,” he said, Carter just smirked a little in response.

Kendra pushed Rip against the wall pinning him, she said, “My son is hurt because of you. Who attacked us?”

“Something of a long story.” Rip practically whispered.

Snart spoke up, “Better tell it fast, Rip, 'cause it doesn't look like the lady's in a patient mood.” _Understatement of the century whatever century._

Carter moved towards where Kendra still had Rip pinned. “Neither am I,” he said.

“His name is Chronos. He works for the Council of Time Masters.” Rip said loudly. Kendra released him before he continued, “My former employers.”

“I thought you were a Time Master.” Sara said moving towards Rip.

“As I've expressed, time's not a linear thing. At some point I was, in fact, a Time Master.” Rip said, trying to circumvent the question. Didn’t stop Sara from punching him in the face when she got close enough. “Will you people please stop hitting me?”

“Start telling the truth!” Sara yelled angrily.

Rip threw up his hands saying quickly, “I relinquished my position as a Time Master when I commandeered the Waverider.” He slowed down and lowered his voice, “Chronos was clearly sent to bring me in. “

“You lied to us.” the professor said shocked, obviously having never considered it to be a possibility. _For someone so smart he really is dumb._

“Of course I lied to you. I needed your help... you all barely said yes as it was.” Sara moved away from Rip to stand by Jefferson.

“What about the legends part?” Jefferson spoke up quietly.

“He lied about that too,” I stated

Not looking at anybody and looking vaguely ashamed, “I chose you all because, a hundred years from now, your lives have minimal effect on the recorded timeline. I needed your help without disturbing the history of 2166,” Rip explained.

“So, we're like the opposite of legends.” Jefferson said a little downcast.

“Give me one good reason why we shouldn't kill you.”

“Ditto the arsonist.”

Rip said in response to Mick and the professor’s question, “Because Gideon wouldn't listen to your commands and you'd be stuck here forever.” _I think not forever just until we could manage to reprogram Gideon._

Ray summed up the whole conversation in two sentences, “Great, so we're not an elite team of heroes on a sanctioned mission, sent to rid the future of its most horrific bad guy. Just a collection of nobodies who time really doesn't give a damn about.”

“I didn't lie about the mission itself. Or the brutality and ruthlessness of Savage. Or my need for your help.”

“I don't imagine you're the kind of guy who quits his job and takes on this kind of threat for altruistic reasons, so Rip, why don't you tell us: what did Vandal Savage do to you?” Ray asks with a level of perception I hadn’t thought he was capable of.

“The Time Masters discourage marriage. They urge against procreation even more. Hence why all Time Masters are betas. A Time Master should be free of any personal entanglements that might compromise him. But... I fell in love, and we had a child. A boy. Jonas.” Rip said getting lost in a memory.

Ray connected two and two, “Savage killed your family.”

“He slaughtered my family. And thousands of other families. And that body that I swore an oath to serve turned a blind eye. They continue to turn a blind eye. I won't. The last thing that my child saw in this world was that monster's face. You can be damn well sure that when Savage dies, the last face he sees will be mine. I understand, given the circumstances, if you wish to return home. We can make the jump once the repairs are done, if and when Professor Boardman stabilizes.”

“I think we all need a little time to consider our options.” the professor said as we all started to think about whether we wanted to stay. I had known Rip had lied so wasn’t as shocked as everyone else but I had still decided to come because I needed a distraction. The question was did I want this to be it?

We all split off to think about what we were going to do. I ended up in some cargo bay with Ray, Mick, Sara, and Snart. We were sitting in silence until “What's the point of us even giving this a second thought? Rip has already seen the future. He knows exactly what's in store for each of us. Might as well have stayed dead, 'cause the world doesn't need any of us. You're just a lost assassin. You're just a pair of good-for-nothing criminals. And you I don’t even know what you are.” Ray said honestly, though I am pretty sure honest is his only setting.

“Don’t worry about it.” I said closing my eyes and leaning my head back against the wall, letting their mixed scents wash over me grounding me to the here and now.

“I can live with that.” Mick responded.

“Well, I can't. Can't live with somebody putting a cap on my destiny. Spent my whole life working to be something greater by becoming something smaller. Then some guy comes along and tells me that being the Atom is as insignificant as an actual Atom.” 

“That's not what he said.” Sara said. I opened my eyes watching her stand up as she continued, “Rip said that in his future we're nobodies, but this mission is about changing the future. I mean, if we have the power to change the world, don't you think we have the power to change our own fate?” 

“She makes a good point. We could do anything we want.”

“For better or for worse.” Snart says

Ray agreeing with me said with a smile, “That's a very good point.”

* * *

We all made our way onto the bridge where Rip, Kendra, and Carter were talking, “Time wants to happen. Chronos, even Vandal, won't be the only enemy we face. Very often, it will be time itself.” Rip said, explaining the biggest challenge we would have to face in this endeavour.

Ray spoke up as we moved into the deck towards the center console, “Whether it wants to happen or not, we're gonna change time, erase Savage's future, and earn our rightful place in history.” 

“Dr. Palmer is correct. We may not be legends in your time, Captain, but we are going to decide our own fates.” Professor concurs with Ray’s statement.

“I don't give a damn about being a legend, as long as we end Savage once and for all.” Carter is the first to speak his decision.

“I can get down with that.”

“I don’t have anything better to do so…” I say to the unspoken question.

“And our malcontents?” Stein says, turning to look at Mick and Snart.

“I like killing people.” Mick chimed in with a non answer.

“We're in. For now.” Snart answered for both of them.

“So how do we find this guy?” Sara asked, making her answer obvious.

“Professor Boardman had a theory about that. I've already had Gideon plot a course.”


	3. Pilot 2/2

“And we've arrived. Gideon, if you wouldn't mind camouflaging us as an alpine meadow, perhaps?”

“What are you complaining about now? It's not like we time-jumped.” Snart exasperatedly asked Mick.

Mick held his head, “I hate flying, especially in... whatever this thing is.”

“Where exactly are we?” Carter the birdman asked.

Followed up by a question from the she bird Kendra, “We're still in 1975, right?”

“Indeed. October 1975 on the fjords of northern Norway.” Rip answered as he rose from his seat.

Snart snarked, “Sounds like a vacation.”

“Which we can take as soon as the threat of Savage has been neutralized, Mr. Snart.” Rip said as he entered the glass walled study.

As Rip grabbed a small leather notebook Carter stated, “That's Aldus's notebook.” 

We all moved to stand facing Rip, “Now he theorized that Savage might be here, and if he's right, and if we can capture Savage, then at least Professor Boardman didn't die in vain.” Rip said, explaining the significance of the book.

“Can't we just go back and save Aldus?” Kendra asked.

Chiming in to support her Carter stated that, “He was our son.”

Rip looked over at them almost apologetically and said, “Look, I'm sorry. We can't go back and change events in which we participated. Time would fold in on itself, creating a temporal vortex.”

“Which sounds way cooler than it is.” Ray said, his voice a mix between worry and excitement.

Sara spoke up before Ray could geek out, “Forgetting physics for a second, shouldn't we figure out what Savage is doing in Norway?”

“That’s the million dollar question, isn’t it?” I said. 

Rip moved towards the center console as he said, “According to Gideon, there is a large meeting of terrorists and fringe groups looking to buy illegal arms.”

With a smile on his face, “Now that sounds like a vacation,” Mick said.  _ Obviously we have very different ideas about what classifies as a vacation _ .

Snart leaned on the console and said, “Arms dealers and terrorists aren't exactly our kind of people, but they're the next best thing.” 

Carter took a shot at Mick and Snart saying, “Well, looks like you and your lapdog get to earn your keep.”

Looking at Carter, “I'm no one's lapdog, bird-man.” Mick said with a look in his eyes that he wouldn’t hesitate to kill him. I wondered if Carter would fry like a chicken if Mick set him on fire.

Kendra spoke up before the situation could escalate, “So what exactly does one wear to a black market arms bazaar, anyway?”

“The Waverider has a fabrication room which can fashion temporally-indigenous, uh, fashion.” Rip said nonchalantly as he walked back into the glass study.

“You've got a room that makes clothing?” Jax said, _ that might be the most interesting room on this ship. _

“Doesn't everyone?” Rip said over his shoulder.

* * *

Kendra, Carter, Jax and I walked around the back of the warehouse by the water. “So why don't I get to play terrorist?” Jax asked.

Snart spoke over the comm line, “This is just a kidnapping. No need for your nuclear fireworks. Savage'll be one of the buyers. Once we get eyes on, hang back. We'll boost him once this is all over.”

“Any sign of him?” Carter asked somewhat impatiently.

“No.” Snart replied almost disappointed.

Mick piped up, “He's not here, boss.”

“Let's get Ginger and the Professor and move out,” came Snart’s reply.

“Seems we were wrong about Savage. He's not one of the buyers.” Stein said worriedly.

Sara added, “He's the seller.”

“I got a feeling you guys might wanna get those helmets of yours on.” Jax said in response to what we could hear over the comms.

Adding to Jax’s idea, I said, “You definitely want to, because Stein just blew their cover.”

Over the comms came a “Can I burn some stuff now?” That was obviously Mick.

“Get ready to move in fast.” I told Jax, Carter, and Kendra.

“I wish you would,” We heard Snart say, giving Mick the carte blanche to fight.

“Well that’s our signal,” I said, moving to enter the warehouse. I entered the warehouse and the world slowed as I swiftly engaged with some of the fighters attacking the rest of the team. I dealt brutal blows dispatching the men quickly while struggling with my own darkness that wanted blood.

“You,” I heard from a blonde Alpha in a light blue suit, “You have power,” he said confidently. I rolled my eyes as I continued fighting the last man around me fell I turned towards blue suit. His men stepped forward but he waved them off before they could engage me, “an omega with power and training a beautiful and deadly combination, but you’re holding yourself back. Why? Why restrain yourself when you could be unstoppable?” I looked at him in trepidation,  _ how did he know I was holding back. _ He continued, “Why unless you fear the power within you, you have felt your darkness and fear it.” I froze, he had just surmised my inner struggle having watched me for less than five minutes when even my whole family could not after eighteen years. “Join me and I could teach you to control it, to truly master it, join me and we could build an empire together.”

“No,” I stuttered, I knew I could not, would not dare, not now.

He looked into my eyes as if peering into my very being, “not now but perhaps another time.” He walked away and I could breathe again, I hadn’t realized I had stopped. I looked around no one had noticed thankfully, the fighting had mostly calmed only a few opponents remaining. I vaguely heard an explosion  _ the hell did I miss? _

* * *

We walked towards the bridge of the Waverider. “Well, I'm really glad you were the one calling the shots.” Ray sniped at Snart.

“I had it under control until the Professor started picking fights with the PLO.” Snart threw back at him. I could feel the tension building in the air and with it the ache in my head.

“You let your ego endanger our entire mission.” Carter angrily said to Stein.

Stein tried denying the accusation, “No, Mr. Rory's temper got completely out of control…” 

“I thought we were friends, Professor.” Mick replied.

Kendra tried to cool everybodies temper saying, “At least there's one less nuclear bomb on the planet.” As if that was something we should have been concerned with.

As we all walked past the glass room Rip slowly clapped, “Here, here. Now you all deserve a hearty congratulations. Not only did you fail to capture Savage, you exposed yourselves and your powers to him, giving away the element of surprise for now and all time. Well done, team,” he said condescendingly.

“We don't need the element of surprise. We know he's in Norway, so let's find him…” Carter said, stating the obvious.

Before he could finish his statement, Rip cut him off, “Unfortunately, we now have larger problems than Savage. If only you'd have listened to me about the dangers of upsetting the timeline,” as if he was all knowing.

“What are you talking about?” Kendra asked for us all.

He started, “While you were busy saving Norway from nuclear annihilation…”

“You're welcome, Norway.” Mick interrupted sarcastically.

Rip continued as if he hadn’t been interrupted, “Savage sent one of his cronies back to the site of the arms sale. Anyone care to guess what he found?”

Ray looked down at the arm of his suit, “Whoops,” he said like a two year old that had spilled his juice.

**_I am unversed in modern American colloquialisms. Is ‘Whoops’ slang for ‘Oh’..._ ** __

“Yes, Dr. Palmer seems to have thrown a spanner in the works for the entire timeline.” Rip said scowling at Ray.

“Come again?” Snart said alarmed. 

Rip started talking quickly, “Armed with Dr. Palmer's future technology, Savage's engineers develop a weapon far more destructive than anything here in 1975. This is Central City in 2016. At least it was. I'm not sure what the neo-fascists who took control of it are calling it these days.” Finishing his angry tirade, he pulled up a hologram of the destruction in Central City.  _ If that’s Central City then Gotham must truly be hell on earth. _

Stein stepped forward hesitantly, “There must be a way to correct this somehow.”

Rip explained, “Fortunately, Gideon is just showing us a forecast of the future you've all created. Time is like cement. It takes time to become permanent. In this case, until Savage's team have worked out the mystery of your future technology and molded it to their own ends. And when they do, what you see here is no longer just a forecast. This…” he sighed, “This is history.” On that dour note we all slowly wandered out of the room.

_ So this team thing is looking to be an unmitigated disaster, lovely. _

* * *

I perched on the edge of one of the chairs closest to the center console as most of us gathered back on the main deck, “So thanks to Raymond leaving a piece of his suit in the past, the rest of us don't have a future to go back to?” Snart, summed up our problem.

“Unless we do something to change this course of events, the future will become immutable.” Rip explained wearily.

“Exactly how much time do we have?” Ray asked.

Rip answered, “Until Savage's weapons team reverse-engineers your tech.” 

Stein tried to explain the significance of this, “We're talking 1970s terrorists with 21st-century weapons.”

“Suffice to say a bad mix” I interrupted him.

Stein continued, “extremely, and since we don't know where Savage went…”

Ray said excitedly, “We don't have to find Savage. We just have to find the other piece of my suit. Which shrinks because it's made of an alloy which mimics intra-molecular compression of dwarf star, thus emitting Alpha Particles.”  _ Excited must be his default setting almost like a puppy. _

“So we just need to be able to track them. Fortunately, Alpha Particles are highly trackable.” Stein said in his typical know it all tone.

Ray looked down in dismay, “Yet unheard of in the 1970s. It's like we're trapped in the Stone Age.”

Stein responded smugly, “I'll have you know that I was researching Alpha Particles when you were eating crayons.”  _ He must really think he is the smartest person to have ever walked the face of the earth. _

“So to track that piece of Raymond's super-suit, we just need to talk to…” Snart prompted Stein.

“Me. 25-year-old me, rather.” Stein answered.

Kendra and Carter walked towards us, “You two are just in time,” Rip addressed them.

Carter spoke before he could continue, “Show them, Kendra,” he practically ordered. 

Kendra just ignored his tone and started talking, holding out a newspaper clipping she carried, “Aldus was carrying this when he was killed. It's a newspaper article about an Egyptian dagger.”  _ She is far kinder than I could ever be, I would have slapped him if he had spoken to me like that. _

“The one Savage used to kill us,” Carter added. They went back and forth explaining the importance of the dagger.

“In Central City, we learned that objects associated with the night of our deaths can also be used to kill Savage.”

“According to Aldus's notes, the dagger needs to be wielded in conjunction with an incantation inscribed on it.” 

“What does this incantation say?” Stein asked. 

Carter looked to Kendra for an answer, “I don't know. I can't read the language.” He said to her as he took her arm leading her away, “It's okay. I'll help you remember.”

“Splendid. Now, as for the dagger…” Rip said looking down at the news clipping.

“You need someone to steal it.” Ray said

Snart snatched the clipping from Rip before he could respond, “Okay, fine. Whatever. I'll do it,” he said as if it was a burden, and that he wasn’t looking forward to it. Reading through the article continued, “Article says it was purchased by some rich Russian douchebag named Sasha Mahnovski.”

“I'll go with you.” Ray practically jumped.

“I already got a partner.” Snart quickly tried to discourage as he walked away. 

“Who I trust even less than you.”  _ Boy Scout is really something else, I mean trust do any of us trust each other. He is either idealistic or naive, I can’t decide which. _

“Look, you're more than welcome to go with them. Just don't take along any of your future tech.” Rip said to Ray. “Oy! Where do you think you're going?” He said as Stein went to walk out.

“To break into my old lab and bring us back the particle tracker.” Stein said simply, but what about this mission has been simple.

“Fine, but perhaps, you should take Jefferson and Sara with you to act as your intermediaries. Look, interacting with yourself in the past can have catastrophic effects upon the future.” Rip explained after volunteering the two of them.

“Fascinating,” Stein responded to Rip, turning to them, “Let's go,” before he walked out. 

**_Setting a course for the United States, Captain._ **

* * *

I stayed back on the ship having decided not to join one of the mission teams. I needed to figure out some way to manage my darker impulses to keep them from warring with my instincts. I settled in a room  _ back to the basics.  _ I need to connect to it to find a way to lock it away. I sat cross legged starting to meditate. I could feel my power just below the surface but I dug deeper reaching to find that darkness to find it’s source. It seemed endless like I was submerged in water trying to reach the surface but it just kept getting further away.

Sara came to get me as we were on our way to Savage’s house to retrieve Mick, Snart, and Ray. I quickly put on my armored purple bodysuit and boots both with black trimmings, a matching black utility belt, and leather jacket fully prepared for the fight that was sure to ensue. We landed as close to the house as possible Jax and Stein merged. Firestorm and I flew ahead to free Mick, Snart, and Ray to try and make this fight as fast as possible.

“Oh. The burning man.” Savage said when he saw Jax and I standing on the balcony above him.

“I don't just burn, pal. I blast things too.” Jax said as he hit Savage with a brutal blast of power.

I jumped down from the balcony landing first on the cage Snart and Ray were in then moving down to the floor by Mick. “Well you boys have certainly got yourselves into trouble haven’t you.” I said as I inspected the cage deciding on the best way to break it.

“Hey, you okay?” I heard Jax ask Mick as I decided to burn through some of the bars. I largely ignored their interaction focusing on melting through the bars. “Stand back.” Jax told Ray and Snart before he directed his power to join mine in deconstructing the cage. We moved to meet up with the rest of the team outside when they arrived, “It's all good. Savage is down.” Jax boasted.

Carter immediately shot him down, “Savage is not defeated by earthly means.”

Jax tried to assert himself “Well, I hit him with a nuclear blast, so, you know, not that earthly.” 

Snart stepped forward presenting the dagger to Carter and Kendra, “Go get that son of a bitch,” he said as Carter took the dagger from him.

“Are you ready to end this?” Carter asked Kendra.

Kendra conferred her conviction, “We've only been waiting 4,000 years.” They took off flying to go and finally kill Savage.

“We got company.” Mick said, noting the first wave of a small army coming our way.

“Friends of Savage. You'll be needing this. Don't leave any pieces of it behind this time.” Rip said, holding out Ray’s miniaturized atom suit. We moved forwards to meet the army. We collided, our attacks having little effect as wave after wave of Savage’s men kept coming. Collecting an injured Kendra we retreated to nurse our wounds, and figure out a new plan.

* * *

“How's Kendra?” Stein asked as he and Rip joined the rest of us on the main deck.

Sara answered tersely, “The same.”

“So what now?” Jax asked as if we had ever really had a plan.

“Now? Now it's up to you.” Rip said.

“To do what, Rip? Last I checked, every time we try to do anything, it all goes to crap.” Snart said snidely, expressing the regret we all felt at having failed so epically. 

“Oh, once again I must disagree with you. Thanks to Miss Lance, Dr. Palmer's future technology is no longer in the hands of Vandal Savage's black market weapons designers.” Rip said trying to look at the bright side of the disaster the first day has been.

Stein interjected, pointing out how we hadn’t achieved our main goal, “But it didn't do anything to change the fate of your world.”

“No. Vandal Savage will still rise to power in the year 2166.” Rip answered dejectedly.

“And your family will still die?” Jax said  _ congratulations you can state the obvious. _

“So what you're really asking is, do we want to fish or cut bait?” Snart inferred, “Return to 2016 and live out the rest of our lives as insignificant losers or…”

“Make another play at becoming legends,” Ray said, interrupting Snart. “Figure out how to end Savage and save the world.” 

Stein added a condition, “Preferably, without causing any more nuclear explosions.”

Mick simply said, “Savage has my attention.”

“Look, we didn't know Carter from Adam, but if you take out one of my crew, you better pay the price,” Snart said pointing between Mick and himself. 

“Surely Captain Hunter has a sound plan. What about you?” Stein said turning to Jax. 

Shocked Jax said, “You're asking me? 

“I didn't give you much of a choice the first time, did I?” Stein admitted. 

“Well, I say we kick Savage's ass. For Carter.” Jax said with conviction.

I stayed silent while everyone else intoned, “For Carter.”  _ I’m not really doing this for Carter but because I need an outlet for my darkness, at least until I figure out how to control it. _

“So, Captain. Where are we going next?”


	4. Blood Ties

I looked over Kendra’s biometrics as Stein explained why she wasn’t healing. “The broken knife fragments are moving through her circulatory system, and if you’ll notice these, they're closing in towards her heart.” He pointed out on the monitor.

“So what do we do?” Ray asked.

Stein looked a little lost, “The fragments are miniscule even the ship’s technology isn’t capable of neutralizing them.”

“What if it’s not about tech?” Stein and Ray looked at me in confusion, “my power’s can purge the foreign elements from her system.”

“I hardly believe that magic could be the answer to anything.” I rolled my eyes at Stein’s blatant disbelief immediately angry at how easily he dismissed the possibility.  _ He’ll have no choice but to learn about my power’s capabilities soon enough _ .

“Fortunately, there’s a technology on board that is. The atom suit I can shrink down, slip into her bloodstream, and use the photon canons to vaporize the knife fragments.”

* * *

I stood to the side and watched as Ray shrunk down in his suit so the Professor could inject him into Kendra’s blood stream. I watched as after destroying one fragment something unnerved Ray enough for him to rush back out and unshrink before declaring himself a failure. I idly contemplated the merits of finding out what was wrong with Ray but seeing the Professor going after him I shrugged it off before focusing on Kendra.  _ Now to show them some of what my powers can do by doing things my way.  _ Reaching to Kendra I flicked a tendril of my powers through her and I sought out the foreign objects within her blood. Grasping onto them one at a time I pushed down on them, forgoing a spell I willed them to vanish, slowly I felt them start to give in under the pressure of my power. I smiled as Kendra’s vitals slowly improved with every vanished fragment.

* * *

Stein and Ray walked back into the medbay looking like they were on a mission. They froze when they saw Kendra and I talking casually. I smirked at them, “While you boys were fussing over your toys, I was using my powers to purge the pieces of the dagger from Kendra’s blood stream. Successfully, on the first try, might I add.” I was undeniably smug,  _ Magic can be a valid answer _ .

“That’s impossible,” the Professor said looking a bit constipated.

**_Miss Kane is quite right, I’m afraid, Professor._** Gideon explained, **_Miss Saunders should be free to leave the medbay shortly._** Kendra drifted to sleep after Gideon administered a light sedative.

“Sometimes magic is the answer,” I smirked over my shoulder as I walked out of the med bay.

* * *

We stood in a line in front of Carter’s grave while Rip said a few words.

“The other day, I tried to find some words of inspiration. Words that would restore hope to us in the wake of our losses, but it is all of you who have inspired me. Beginning with Professor Boardman and then with Carter, their heroism is … an inspiration to us all. And a reminder that one person acting alone can’t save the world.”

People slowly started heading back to the ship while Kendra said her last goodbyes.

* * *

Rip ran onto the bridge where we were all waiting. “Gideon ready us for take off.” He huffed.

“Whoa, are we being chased or something?” asked Jax from his seat.

“No, but I imagine that right about now, the museum has realized that their prized emerald is missing.”

“You want me to say I’m sorry?”

“Sorry, I don’t do sorry.”

“Which is fine, Mr. Rory, because you are owed the apology. I should have told you all before that this wasn’t my first attempt to vanquish Vandal Savage, but the reason I failed before---”

“Was because you didn’t have all of us.”

“Obviously Dr. Palmer and I--” I cleared my throat so the Professor corrected himself, “and Miss Kane had our hands full tending to Ms. Saunders, but now that she’s back on her feet --”

“We’re back to full strength.”

“Or as strong as we can be without Carter,” Kendra said miserably.

“Quite true, but there is no point in us continuing any further. Unless we are all -- and myself included, committed to working in concert.”

“You don’t ditch us, we won’t ditch you. Deal?”

**_Sir, I’ve completed my review of the timeline. I calculate a 98% likelihood that Savage reappears in 1986._ **

“Chart a course, Gideon.”

“Guess we’re headed to the 80s. Better break out your parachute pants.”

“What the hell are parachute pants?”

“Nylon and cargo pants, a horrible mix.”


	5. Russia

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter please let me know what you think.

“That wasn't so bad, was it?” Rip asked as the ship finished the jump to whenever we were now.

“Walk in the park. So where are we now?” Snart answered sarcastically.

“Washington, D.C. The year is 1986.” Rip provided.

Stein stood up saying, “We've landed at the height of the Cold War in a world poised for nuclear annihilation.”

A hologram of a head hovered over the center console as Gideon said  **_We've traveled here because I have a new lead on Vandal Savage's location._ **

Rip explained the lead Gideon had found for us, “Yes. Gideon managed to intercept this telefax concerning Savage's last known whereabouts.”

“Tele-what?” Jax asked.

“It's like an email... on paper.” Ray said smiling as usual, despite the ancient technology.

Mick glanced down at the document on the screen, “Wow, that's totally useless.” 

“Dude, this whole thing's crossed out.” Jax said looking up from the screen at Rip.

“Yeah, redacted by the U.S. government, which is why we are here to steal the original file on Savage back from those who are tracking him.” Rip said as he moved from the console to look out the window at the view of the pentagon.

Ray worriedly stammered, “Uh, that's the…”

“Now, now... Don't worry. We are cloaked.” Rip said trying to sound reassuring, didn’t really work.

We all moved towards the window overlooking the pentagon. “You want us to break into the Pentagon? Sounds awesome.” Mick said, enthused by the prospect of stealing something.

Kendra cut it, “It sounds crazy.”

Ignoring Kendra, “What's the plan?” Sara asked, looking to Rip.

He answered, “Oh, the Fabricator will fashion you the necessary Pentagon credentials while Chloe will remain our eyes in the sky to provide any necessary backup,” without looking away from the building.

Ray excited as always practically sang, “Ooh, and don't forget our G-man disguises. I always wanted to be a spy.”

“Sounds almost easy.” I said  _ I wonder how we’ll fuck it up. _

* * *

“Now, the file we're after is kept in a secure records room. In order to gain access, we're going to need to, uh, borrow a magnetic key card.” Rip said over the comms addressing Snart who was placed in the lobby. Ignoring Ray’s obvious discomfort with theft the key card was swiftly acquired and handed off to Sara and Kendra who would be retrieving the document.  _ So far so good. _

“The records room has closed-circuit cameras. We need a diversion.” Rip prompted Mick to make some noise. Mick drew the security personnel away from their watch allowing Kendra and Sara to slip in. They quickly acquired the file and alerted us of the fact. “Okay, now for the tricky part. All personnel are subject to search upon exiting the Pentagon. Firestorm will divert the power long enough for you to exit.” 

“All clear.” Jax said over the comms.  _ We’re so close _ I thought then the alarm went off  _ well there goes that plan. _

Hearing Kendra say, “Sorry, we must have gotten lost.” I knew the plan was completely screwed.

Within a minute I heard Sara say, “We have a slight problem.”  _ Obviously because the plan is shot to hell. _

Things quickly spun completely out of control, I could see smoke coming from about where Mick was supposed to be then Kendra came flying out of the building wings fully extended and started attacking the soldiers. “Where is that smoke coming from? We've got the file. What the hell does Kendra think she's doing?” Rip asked angrily.

“Good question.” Sara said having no more insight than the rest of us.

“Someone’s got some anger issues to work out,” I said annoyed.

“All right, wonderful, we've got a demigoddess who's gone completely berserk. Abort. I repeat, abort. Get back to ship right now.” Rip ordered all of us.

“Roger that.” Jax was the only one to respond, before he blasted right through the roof to get out.  _ Could this mission have gone any worse? _

Rip sighed, “I meant, Use the door. Can somebody return our winged avenger to her cage?”

“I got her,” I said, I quickly floated down towards Kendra and wrapped her in a shield before I flew away to drag her back to the ship.

* * *

“Instead of dwelling on what went wrong, let's focus on the positive.” Ray said, trying to be optimistic.

“Do you have any setting other than optimistic or is that all you know?” I spoke annoyed at the shitshow that could barely be called a mission. Ray looked at me with a slightly offended look in his eye.

Mick spoke gleefully “What are you talking about? It was awesome.”  _ Of course he set something on fire so all is good in his books. _

“In the same way that tsunamis, earthquakes, and other natural disasters are ‘awesome’.” Stein said.

Kendra spoke quickly, “We got the file on Savage.”

“Despite the hiccup with the alarm?” Stein responded accusingly.

Jax spoke up, “Oh, so it's my fault now? You know, maybe if you weren't always yammering away in my head, I could actually focus.”  _ Someone is highly defensive. _

Stein argued back at Jax, “You have access to 60 years of knowledge and experience. Why not just take advantage of that?”

A response from Jax came quickly, “Because it's my body on the line out there, not yours.”

Sara interrupted them before they could go on, “Hey, it's not your fault. Everything would have been fine if Big Bird over here hadn't freaked out.”

“Excuse me?” Kendra said affronted.

I looked at her, “It is pretty simple, the alarm went off then you lost your shit.”

Rip interrupted speaking up before an actual fight could break out, “Enough. There is plenty of blame to go around. Now, fortunately, Gideon was able to generate a low-end EMP, which erased all the Pentagon's magnetic media.”

“Like security footage?” Ray said.

“Look, you're just lucky that the Department of Defense likes to keep incidents like this under wraps. Gideon, any luck with our purloined secret file? Please say yes.” Rip said looking for anything that could salvage the situation.

**_Yes, Captain. According to the Pentagon, Savage has defected to the Soviet Union._ **

“So the most powerful evil the world has ever known has just gone red at the height of the Cold War.” Stein said, alarmed.

“And now he's gonna help them cook up something that kills the future.”

“Gideon, set a course... for the Soviet Union.”

* * *

“We run out of gas or something?” I heard Snart say as I entered the main deck from the opposite end.  _ I hope it's not the or something. _

**_Chronos is still in pursuit. Weapons systems tracking._ **

_ Of course it’s the or something.  _ “Look, if this is your idea of trying to lose him, then, m…” Jax said leaning over the console looking worried.

Rip looked down at the console, seeing something he said, “Uh-huh. The Soviet Air Force to the rescue. Now, let's see how badly Chronos wants to follow us.”  _ I really hope it’s not that badly. _

“Wow, it's a MiG-21. No one's ever been this close to one before.” Ray said in his default setting.

“Are you quoting "Top Gun"?” Snart said exasperated.

“Maybe.” Ray said,  _ really. _

“Only you could be excited in this situation,” I said as I sat down knowing nothing good could come of any of this.

**_I've got heat-seeking missiles closing at a distance of less than a mile._ **

“Which is why I need you to cut the engines.” Rip said.

Jax quickly protested, “Whoa, wait, don't we need those to land?”

“I said, ‘Cut them,’ Gideon.” Rip ordered and we immediately started dropping.

**_Missiles are now targeting something else._ **

“Chronos.” Jax said, shocked it had worked.

“I suggest you all strap yourselves in. It's going to be a bit of a bumpy landing. Initiating emergency landing protocol. How's it going, Gideon?” Rip asked. We all moved to strap in.

**_There's not much more I can do. Elevation is 5,000. 4,000. 3,000._ **

“When I said, ‘bumpy,’ I meant, ‘Prepare for crash landing.’ Miss Kane if there is anything you could do to soften our landing that would be wonderful." Rip looked at me.  _ Oh wouldn’t it. _

“I’ll try.” I pushed my power out, wrapping it around the ship in a shield, I tried to make it as strong as possible hoping for the best. We still hit the ground hard.

* * *

“We have a problem.” Sara said to Rip walking up to him in the hall.

“Right, you're going to have to be a little bit more specific.” He responded thinking about how many problems there were.

“It's Kendra. She's completely unstable, you saw her at the Pentagon. That psycho priestess Chay-Ara took over and clawed a guard's eyes out.”

“Perhaps Kendra just needs a bit of time. Remember, it was her first time out in the field since Carter's death.” Rip said, turning to walk away.

“Well, Carter's not going to be the only dead body on our hands if someone doesn't get her under control.”

Turning back towards Sara, “You know, perhaps you're right, and it just so happens I have the perfect candidates for the job.” 

“No. No, I was not talking about me.” 

“And yet, I can think of no one better suited to the task.”

“I'm not a fan of feelings. If Kendra needs someone to talk through her grief with…” Sara trailed off.

“Kendra needs someone to help her get her warrior side under control. I imagine you, above anyone else, know how to do that.”

“This is a bad idea.”

“Miss Kane has extensive combat training, she could be of use in this endeavour as well. And well if worse comes to worse she could diffuse any tense situations.”

“If Chloe has the training, why not put her in charge of this?”

“She may have the training, but your unique experience of being resurrected and resulting bloodlust is the closest thing anyone on this ship has as an equivalent to Kendra’s own.”

* * *

Sara dragged me from my room and filled me in on how we were going to be teaching Kendra how to control her inner warrior.  _ How am I supposed to help someone with their issues when I can barely manage my own.  _ We got to where Kendra was sitting in one of the cargo bays and Sara tossed a bo staff at Kendra, “Heads-up.”

“What the hell is this?” Kendra looked at the staff like it offended her delicate sensibilities. I twisted mine around before leaning against a wall to watch.

“Warriors train every day,” Sara said simply. 

Kendra turned setting the staff behind her, “Sorry, but I'm not in the mood.” 

“‘Sorry’ is not gonna help that guard that you defaced at the Pentagon.” Sara said moving closer to Kendra.

Kendra stood up, “Two months ago, I was a barista. I had no idea I had some psycho hawk goddess inside of me, and then I meet Carter, and he convinces me to let her out, and now that he's gone... I can't control it, so thanks for the offer, but I won't risk letting that monster out again.” She said as she moved, handing the staff back to Sara before going to leave the room. I frowned as I looked over at Kendra a little surprised,  _ not knowing how to control something inside hits way too close to home. _

Sara spoke, stopping Kendra in her tracks, “That monster inside you is not gonna go away. You have to learn how to control her.” _ Don’t we all, _ I thought sarcastically but,  _ I hadn’t realized we had such similar problems _ .

“And how, exactly, do you expect me to do that?” Sara tossed her the staff in response.  _ Well things are getting interesting. _

“Let's find out.” Sara said before lunging at Kendra.

The fighting escalated quickly moving out of the room, I followed behind them leisurely twirling my staff as I went. “Are we done here yet?” Kendra said, after she discarded her staff and got flipped onto the ground.

“If you want to harness your power, you need to learn to control your fear.” Sara responded, continuing to push her.

“Yeah, well, you've been training for half your life to be some cold-blooded assassin, so I really don't think you understand what it's like.”  _ Ow that must sting. _

Sara ignored it, discarding her own staff before going on, “Before you can control it, you have to accept that it's part of you,” hitting harder, faster than before.

“Ease up, will you?” Kendra said in response to getting thrown into a wall.

Sara ignored her, “You've got to channel your anger.”

“Sara, stop.”

“Push down your emotions. Focus on your opponent.” Sara kicked Kendra who flew back her wings popping out before her eyes flashed red. “Kendra?” Sara called.

Kendra literally flew at her, her feet coming up kicking Sara back to the ground. I braced myself to step in but Kendra snapped out of it before I had to. Kendra ran towards Sara, “Sara! Sara, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry…” Sara popped up quickly pining Kendra to the ground starting to strangle her. “Sara, what are you doing? It's me!”

I moved to stand behind Sara and twisted my bo staff around to press it against her throat, I yanked back forcing her away from Kendra before she could kill her. She turned to me, lashing out. “knock it off Sara,” I said, trying to get her to snap out of it as I blocked or dodged all of her attacks. She kept coming after me as the voice inside me urged me to give in, to stop holding back and to truly fight her. As the fight stretched on I started seeing red as I lost myself to the back and forth eventually Kendra pushed us apart making us both snap back to reality. The three of us panted lightly, looking between each other for a brief moment. Sara was the first to turn storming away, I quickly turned moving in the opposite direction she had gone in  _ I need to figure this out _ .

* * *

“That looks sore. What happened?” Rip asked running into Kendra in a hall.

She continued rubbing her neck, “Maybe you should ask the lunatics you put in charge of training me.”

“I... actually, I was hoping that the arrangement between you, Chloe, and Sara might be, uh... mutually beneficial.” 

“You mean you knew about their bloodlust thing?” Kendra turned stopping Rip from moving forward

“It's the captain's job to know everything on his ship. Look, Sara went through hell when she was resurrected, and I was hoping that you'd be able to... coax out her human side from the darkness of the Lazarus Pit. While Chloe on the other hand her omega instincts are warring with the darker impulses that reside within her.”

“Why me?” 

“Well, after 4,000 years of reincarnation, surely you know a thing or two about rebirth.”

“Chloe and Sara tore into each other, I barely managed to keep them from killing each other.”

“Well between the three of you at least one of you should be able to make sure no one dies.” Rip said walking away.

* * *

I carried a bottle of vodka as I walked into the room where Sara was sharpening her knives, “Sara, look about earlier, I really don’t know what happened, but I lost control and for that I’m sorry.” I said holding the bottle out to her as a peace offering.

She took it, taking a sip, “You don’t need to apologize, I lost control too. We both have a bloodlust.” She handed the bottle back to me so I could take a sip.

“What a pair we make.” I said mirthfully as I settled on one of the crates. We passed the bottle back and forth for a while.

“Heads up! Let's go. ‘A warrior trains every day,’ remember?” Kendra said, interrupting our drinking by throwing both Sara and I a bo staff. Sara immediately set hers down.

“I'm not a warrior, and I tried to kill you the last time we did this, remember?” Sara said, trying to discourage Kendra.

“And then Sara and I tried to kill each other.” I added, taking another pull of vodka.

“‘Tried’ being the operative word. Look, you want to know my theory?” Kendra asked, moving to stand in front of Sara.

“No.”

“Yeah, I’m good.” I took another swig.

“I think for the both of you, your problem is the opposite of mine. I need to learn to embrace my inner hawk goddess, but you... the both of you need to learn to embrace your human side.”  _ It's been too long since I haven’t felt at war with myself, I don’t know if I could ever get back to that girl. _

“And what if that side of us is gone? What if they don't exist anymore?”

“Well, only one way to find out.” Kendra said as she moved to stand closer to the entry and twirled her staff.

“What, are you baiting us?” Sara said,

I chuckled, “I don’t think that’ll work out too well.” I had no clue if I could control myself.

“No, I'm training you. Come on. Are you scared?” Sara and I looked at each other before Sara lunged at Kendra. I took a moment to set my vodka to the side, before I jumped into the fight. 

* * *

“A thermocore,” Kendra said questioningly.

“Let me get this straight. You had Kendra, Chloe, and I training for the next mission, when we should have been out there helping them.” Sara practically yelled at Rip moving to stand in his face, her angry alpha pheromones set me on edge.

“We will help them, and our next mission is to get our compatriots back from Vostok.” Rip said calmly, moving to circle the console as he released calming beta pheromones, didn’t really work too well.

“We wouldn’t have to get them back if you had sent us in, in the first place.” I said snippily.

“Who is to say they're not already dead?” Kendra asked.

“Vostok needs the professor alive in order to rebuild the thermal core.” Rip said as he got to the other side of the console.

“And Ray and Rory?” Jax asked.

“Savage will keep them alive too.” Rip said as if they would be absolutely fine.

“As leverage. He'll torture them if Stein tries to hold out.” Sara laid out the facts.

“Well, we'll have to pray that he does. If Savage's goal is to create his own Firestorm, then Stein himself is the key, the missing piece of the puzzle. And if Vostok figures out how to turn Stein's powers against us, then... I'm afraid the world is beyond saving.”

“Stein's a lot tougher than he looks. I mean, it will take a lot to break him.” Jax insisted.  _ He would know best having Stein in his head so often. _

“That's the good news. The bad news is that our compatriots are being held in an impenetrable Soviet gulag.”

**_Labor Camp Number 54... Formerly known as the Koshmar or "Nightmare" gulag. Built in the 18th century…_ **

“Can we skip past the Wikipedia crap and get to the good stuff, like how to break in?” Snart said testily, obviously concerned for Mick’s safety.

Sara spoke when Gideon didn’t respond right away, “Perhaps you didn't register that as a question, Gideon.”

**_I understood, but in its 200 years of operation, no one has successfully escaped from…_ **

Snart drawled, “No offense, Gideon, but I never met a building I couldn't break into.” 

“Well, I hope you're right. Savage knows that Stein created Firestorm, but if he finds out that he is Firestorm…” Rip said worriedly.

Snart spoke annoyed, “Always Savage with you, isn't it? My partner's in prison too.”

“And Ray.” Sara added.

“Yeah, whatever. The point is you didn't lift a finger.” _ Snart really only cares about himself and Mick, they really are a pack of their own. _

Rip started yelling, “You know damn well it was never my intention to get them thrown into a gulag, but I had no other option. Besides, I doubt that it's Mr. Rory's first time in prison or second or, I imagine, tenth.”

Sara spoke up redirecting the conversation, “All right, arguing is not gonna bring the team back any faster. And Rip's right. Criminals usually do feel more at home in prison, and they know it better than anyone else.”

“So?” Snart asked impatiently. 

Sara leaned against the console, “So what if the key to breaking in is asking someone who's been in and out of Soviet prisons their whole life?”

“And who might that be?” Rip asked leadingly.

“Are you familiar with the Bratva?”

Snart moved to lean against the console by Sara looking more interested than ever, “Ooh, the Russian Mob? In 1986, they would have ruled the criminal underground inside every prison.”

* * *

Sara and I sauntered into the room with the Bratva grunts. “Igor! Andrei!” We all heard being called from the bath area. They looked at us standing between them and the door before moving forward; we clashed with them quickly dispatching them all. Sara and I moved into the bath area to see what progress was made. We looked around “Chloe and I just took out six men. You guys couldn't handle one?”

“You killed my men?” The bratva captain asked incredulously. Sara and I looked at each other briefly,  _ had this guy never seen a woman who could fight? _

“They're not dead yet. And neither are you, assuming you help us.”

“My organization runs black market goods into Koshmar.”

“Three of our, uh, well, comrades are being held there by Savage.” Rip told him.

“Koshmar is not a hotel for petty criminals. If your friends are there, they must be insane, ruthless animals.” Nonetheless he did provide us with what we needed to get to Mick, Ray, and Stein.

* * *

“Now, according to Yuri, this is where his men have access. Got it?” Rip pointed out a specific point on the prison schematics.

“This isn't my first prison break.” Snart sniped.

Sara added quickly gesturing to the three of us, “We got it covered.”

“So how can we help?” Kendra asked.

Rip answered, “By staying on the ship. We don't need any more casualties. Besides, Mr. Snart, Sara, and Chloe have got it covered.”

“Whoa, man. Why does it feel like we're on the JV team all of a sudden?” Jax said, offended.

“What you are is one half of everything Savage needs to change the face of the Cold War. And you are the only person who can kill him.” Rip said.

Kendra started, “Yeah, so you can't just…”

“I am not going to gift wrap the two people in the world that Savage wants the most.” Rip said angrily, shutting down Jax and Kendra’s argument.

We should get going.” Snart said walking out.

* * *

“Impressive how many weapons you can fit in that outfit...,” Snart said to Sara as he sauntered into the room. Looking at my suit he said, “how few you need in that one...And how much stupidity Raymond can squeeze into this one.” he indicated to Ray’s suit Sara tossed it to him.

“Well that just goes to show how different we all are,” I responded, perching on one of the crates. I closed my eyes concentrating on making my power settle right under the surface where I could access them quickly, I also worked to stuff my omega instincts into a box where I could ignore them. 

“The plan is to save him too, not just Stein and your partner.” Sara snapped at him,  _ what crawled up her ass. _

Snart drawled, “Oh, I'm gonna save Raymond, all right, so I can beat some sense into him. And what about you?”

“What about me?”

“Clearly I'm not the only one with a side mission. What did Rip keep you after class to talk about?”

“He just wanted to go over a few details of the plan.” Sara tried to say nonchalantly.

“If he just wanted to go over a few details he wouldn’t have held you back,” I said, not bothering to open my eyes.

“He wants you to take out the old man, doesn't he? It's the obvious play. It's also heartless.” I finally opened my eyes  _ it is a good play if everything goes to shit and there are no other options. _

Sara tried to defend herself, “The plan is to save Stein. And if, for whatever reason, we can't, Rip showed me what will happen to my home in 2016, to our families. If Stein breaks, the damage is irreversible.”

“Been on a lot of heists, and even when things got rough, I never took out one of my own.”  _ I guess even criminals have a code. _

“Well, this isn't a bank heist.”

“First, he left my partner twisting in the wind. Now he's gonna have you ice old silver-top. We're all just pawns, Sara. Come on, I'm the crook, you're the assassin, and Chloe’s the super powered muscle…”  _ You have no idea how much my powers can do. _

“He's not just asking me to kill. He's asking me to save the future. And if, for whatever reason, we can't save Stein, then I'm gonna do what needs to be done.” Sara said I wasn’t sure if she was trying to convince us or herself.

“We’ll just have to make sure it doesn’t come down to that.” I said before we all turned to leave.  _ I hope it doesn’t come down to that. _

* * *

I dropped my cloaking spell as we stopped in an empty hallway. Sara immediately started reccounting the plan, “All right, this duct should take us to solitary. We get to Stein…”

“Yeah, I'm not going.” Snart interrupted her. They went back and forth about it.

“That's the plan.”

“That's Rip's plan. My priority is Mick.”

“Fine. Forget it. So much for your code, crook. Chloe?”

Trusting the feeling in my gut and my omega instincts saying I needed to go to the likely injured members of our group,“I’m gonna make sure Ray doesn’t get left behind,” I told her. 

“Anytime, assassin. Let’s move witchling.” I rolled my eyes at Snart, looking back at Sara I quickly cloaked myself again before moving to follow.  _ I really hope this doesn’t blow up in my face. _

* * *

“You call that a flame?” Snart greeted Mick.

“Ah. Nice costume.” Mick said to Snart, who tossed him the bag with another guard uniform.

“Got one for you too. Wakey, wakey. Time to shrink... or not. Let's go.” Snart said quickly, patting Ray in the face before writing him off when he wouldn’t wake up.

“What about him? We can't ditch him. He won't survive.” Mick tried to argue on Ray’s behalf.

Snart pushed Mick to leave him, “Two guards walking out of here... not suspicious. Two guards carrying him out... suspicious.”

“He took a beating for me,” Mick said. I could hear the bond Mick and Ray had started forming in the way he spoke.

“Raymond would take a beating for a total stranger. Mick, if our time in the can taught us anything, it's we look after each other. It's you and me, right?” Snart tried to justify leaving Ray.

“Step aside,” I told them, dropping my cloak when I got annoyed with their arguing. I moved to hover over Ray pushing my power to heal the worst of his injuries before whispering a spell to wake him up. “Alright Ray time to suit up and shrink down.” He followed my orders, I picked him up and handed him to Mick, “There you go, he’s one hundred percent your problem now.” Mick looked at me before putting Ray in his pocket, he and Snart moved to leave the cell. I sighed before raising my cloak I had done my part. We had barely started moving down the hall before the alarm started going off,  _ well I guess Sara tripped the alarm, I wonder how this will work itself out. _

“That door leads to the loading bay. From there, you can get to the jump ship.” Snart told Mick hastily after we made our way out of the cell block. I dropped my cloak knowing there was no point to it anymore with all the alarms going off.

“Where are you going?”

“I got something to do.” Snart said before he took off towards where the professor was being held.

“Come on Mick, there’s no time like the present and Ray still needs medical attention. He’s a little too quiet and I couldn’t really do anything about his concussion.”

* * *

Snart passed out shots of russian vodka to all of us. “Courtesy of Yuri the Bear.” Mick explained the bottles’s origin. 

Sara asked, amused, “How did you even have time to steal this?”

“There's always time to steal.” Snart replied matter of factly. I downed my shot and gestured for him to pour me another.

“A toast to the first time we haven't completely ruined the timeline.” Stein said, raising his glass.

“Please tell me that's true, Gideon.” Rip said hopefully.

**_The projections of the future are back to normal._ **

“I'll drink to that.” Kendra said happily.

Snart chimed in humorously, “To Rip. To things not going according to his plan.”

“To the Captain.” Stein spoke obviously having no clue about the failsafe plan.

“To the Captain.” We all raised our glasses.

“All right.” Jax cheered.

“Hold on, Jefferson. You're not quite 21.” Stein said, reaching to take the shot from Jax.

“In 1986, the drinking age in Russia was 12, so…” Sara piped up helpfully. We all drifted apart with our drinks, I moved closer to the bottle for more. I could feel the bonds around us shifting, our camaraderie starting to push us towards a pack bond, but I could also feel how hard we were all working to fight that.

Suddenly, something crashed into the ship shaking the whole room, “What was that?” Sara asked.

**_We have been struck with an explosive projectile._ **

“No kidding.” Ray said.

“Everyone get strapped in now!” Rip said and we all scrambled to get in a seat, he looked around worriedly saying, “We're in the Temporal Zone. I don't understand. No one should be able to…” 

A second explosion hit the ship, “You were saying?” Snart asked snarkily.

**_A scan of the vessel suggests that it is the bounty hunter Chronos._ **

“Oh, man, this guy has impeccable timing.” Jax said as he sat down.

**_He appears to be following us._** **_Firing countermeasures. Countermeasures effective._**

“Have we lost him?” Stein asked.

**_Yes, but not his missile. Our aft shield is gravely compromised._ **

“Initiating evasive maneuvers.”

“Ah! The vodka was a bad choice.” Ray cringed,  _ someone has a weak stomach _ .

**_Impact in three, two, one. Sir, we've just been knocked out of the timestream._ **

“What does that mean?” Kendra asked.

“It means we're crash-landing in place and time.”

* * *

We wandered off the ship into the decimated city we had landed in. “Gideon, camouflage the ship. This doesn't look like the type of place we want to linger out in the open.” Rip raised his gun as he moved forward.

We all looked around trying to identify our surroundings. “That looks a lot like a Palmer Tech building, but why does it have a Smoak logo on it?” Ray asked, indicating one of the few skyscrapers that were still standing.

“Wait. This is Star City. I thought you said the timeline was safe.” Sara asked Rip accusingly.

“Yeah, Star City was intact in 2016. This... this is 2046.” Rip said after looking down at his device.

Some guy in a green hoodie dropped down onto a car near us shouting, “Don't move!”

“Oh, thank God.” Sara said relieved.

“I said don't move,” he reiterated.

Sara ignored his order going on, “It's me. It's Sara.”

“Hey, Oliver, look, I-I know it's been a long time, but don't you remember that Rip Hunter recruited us to become legends?” Ray tried to help, I looked at them both doubtfully  _ this can’t be Oliver Queen. Oliver would have recognized us and his scent is off. _

“I never heard of any legends.”


	6. Star City, 2046

We wandered off the ship into the decimated city we had landed in. “Gideon, camouflage the ship. This doesn't look like the type of place we want to linger out in the open.” Rip raised his gun as he moved forward.

We all looked around trying to identify our surroundings. “That looks a lot like a Palmer Tech building, but why does it have a Smoak logo on it?” Ray asked, indicating one of the few skyscrapers that were still standing.

“Wait. This is Star City. I thought you said the timeline was safe.” Sara asked Rip accusingly.

“Yeah, Star City was intact in 2016. This... this is 2046.” Rip said after looking down at his device.

Some guy in a green hoodie dropped down onto a car near us shouting, “Don't move!”

“Oh, thank God.” Sara said relieved.

“I said don't move,” he reiterated.

Sara ignored his order going on, “It's me. It's Sara.”

“Hey, Oliver, look, I-I know it's been a long time, but don't you remember that Rip Hunter recruited us to become legends?” Ray tried to help, I looked at them both doubtfully  _ this can’t be Oliver Queen. Oliver would have recognized us. _

“I never heard of any legends.” he said before firing an explosive arrow at us.

Mick sent a stream of fire from his gun at the guy in retaliation. “Get back!” Rip yelled as the faux Green Arrow fired off a grapple arrow to swing towards us.

We all scattered ducking behind chunks of concrete, or burnt out cars, “This guy a friend of yours? I don't like him.” Mick said to Sara as the archer guy kept shooting arrows at us.

“What are you doing?” Sara asked Rip as he started to fire back at the guy.

“It's called shooting back.” He yelled.

“Can't be the Green Arrow.” Kendra commented,  _ so helpful I mean really like that wasn’t obvious by now. _

“That's not Oliver Queen.” Sara said looking out from behind her cover.

“So there shouldn’t be a problem with us hitting him back.” I said sarcastically.

“Sure dresses like him.” Ray said.

Snart added, “Shoots arrows like him.”

“Well, whoever he is, I don't plan on sticking around to get shish kebabbed by this dude.” Jax said urgently.

“Kid's right. Let's stay behind and kill him.” Mick said gleefully.

Rip yelled out loud enough for us all to hear, “We need to return to the ship.”  _ No shit Sherlock. _

* * *

We walked onto the main deck random sparks flying from the damage. “All right, Rip. Tell us the truth.” Sara demanded.

Rip complied, “You've all seen how the timeline is malleable... in flux until it is set. Well, this future is not set. Remember when I told you it was dangerous for any of you to know too much about your own futures? Well, the events that you dread could very well come to be due to your actions to prevent them.”

“You know what I think? I think you think too much.” Mick said,  _ shocking especially from the guy who barely thinks at all. _

“Believe me when I tell you that the best thing for yourselves and for this mission is to make the repairs to the Waverider here in 2046 then head back to your own time and make sure that none of this ever comes to be.” Rip stated matter of factly

* * *

“So the rest of the team's on a field trip to Palmer Tech, now Smoak Technologies. Palmer Tech sounds better, right? Be honest” Ray said as he and Jax walked onto the bridge, worried about the renaming of his company as if there weren’t more important things to worry about.

“Honestly, they sound about the same.”

“Yep and either way absolutely nobody cares,” I said testily. I knew I was being short with him but I didn’t have the patience to deal with him. Not when I could feel my unstable emotions feeding into the darkness making it stronger than before and I was just barely holding it together.

“Even assuming our compatriots return with a Neuromorphic prototype, we'll still need to prepare Gideon for the new device.” Stein said.

“And the engines could definitely use some loving. Actually, I could use an extra pair of hands.” Jax said eyeing Kendra, _ he’s got the hots _ .

Stein started handing out assignments like we were all students in his class. “Well, Raymond, why don't you and Ms. Saunders continue repairing Gideon, and I'll assist Jefferson with the engines? Miss Kane you can assist us with the engines as well.”

“Not gonna happen. One, I have absolutely no experience with any kind of engine and two I have better things to do.” I snapped at the professor’s attempt to draft me into helping them.

“What could you possibly have to do that doesn’t include fixing the ship?” he asked.

“Don’t worry about it professor, but I will be unavailable for sometime, so don’t need me.” I walked out not giving them a chance to respond.

* * *

I sat cross legged on the bed in my room closing my eyes and focused inwards. I desperately needed to rebalance my emotions, they were completely scattered and steadily feeding into the dark within me. I could feel it growing whispering in my mind urging me to lash out, to hurt, to kill. I needed to cut it down to find it’s source, so I turned my focus to the darkness reaching for it. It surrounded me, I felt as if I had been dragged into an ocean and couldn’t tell which way was up. I could feel myself floating within it and though it disoriented me it didn’t hurt, didn’t seem to hold any malice towards me, it almost seemed to have a consciousness of its own. I tried to find its core, I reached as deep as I could but never felt it, it was as if it moved farther from me every time I got close. I felt myself growing tired so giving up on finding the core I tried to pull myself out. I made little progress having no idea how to extract myself from it. I started drifting aimlessly not being able to find the energy to get out. A warm presence engulfed me caressing my consciousness as it guided me out. My eyes flew open as I dropped to the bed, I hadn’t realized I had started levitating.  _ What was that presence? It was so distinctive, so strong, and so different from my own. It had pushed me out of the darkness so gently, and so effortlessly. As if it knew exactly where the darkness ended and I began. How could it know if I couldn’t even tell?  _ I sighed as I rubbed my head, I desperately needed a drink.

* * *

“Kill them all.” I heard some guy say as I walked into the bar I had found. I paused but then realized I didn’t care about whatever manhunt they were going on. I started shoving my way through the grunts, making my way to the bar. I finally made it past the idiots, and nearly ran head first into an alpha in the most heavily armored suit I had seen since I had first left Gotham, as he turned to leave. I dragged my eyes up his figure finally meeting his eyes, he smirked down at me. I could tell by the look in his eye he had gotten a whiff of my omega pheromones despite the scent blockers I had so carefully put on. I arched my brow at him. “Well what are you lot waiting for?” he said looking around at the crowd. I vaguely recognized Mick and Snart behind him,  _ the hell did Mick get a fur coat from? _

“Heard the man. Let's go.” One of the grunts said as they all started filing out.

He looked back at me with a fascinated look in his eyes, “Well what is a tiny little omega like you doing in my city?”

I looked back up at him vaguely annoyed,  _ he is between me and my drink but I can play along _ , “This is your city?” I said coyly, smirking up at him through my eyelashes. I swiftly moved past him heading for the bar passing Mick and Snart on the way. Mick was glaring at soldier boy, and Snart looked at me with a vaguely amused look in his eye. I got to the bar and reached behind it grabbing a glass and the closest bottle I poured myself a drink before turning to lean against it like a queen holding court. I made eye contact with soldier boy as he stalked up to me like he was a predator and I his prey, I felt the dark within me burn.

He stopped less than a foot in front of me with a dark look in his eyes. We stared each other down, feeling the tension rising growing so thick you could practically cut it with a knife. I vaguely registered Snart and Mick having some sort of showdown, but I paid them no mind more intrigued by the man in front of me than whatever their issues were. “Do you know who I am?” He asked.

Maintaining eye contact, “No,” I said. I raised the glass to my lips to finish my drink with a smirk on my lips, amused with the disgruntled look I could now see in his eyes.

“No,” he said shocked. “I’m Deathstroke, I rule this city.”

“Well Deathstroke,” I purred, “I’m not really from around here.” I turned back to the bar.

“You would turn your back to me?”

“Yes,” I said, not bothering to look back as I poured myself another drink. He pressed his body into mine trapping me between it and the bar, he bracketed me in with his arms to prevent me from slipping away. “You expect me to fear you because of your name?”

“Everyone here does, they all know my name,” he whispered in my ear as I downed my drink. 

I set the glass on the bar and turned my head to face him, “and yet here I am,” I said challengingly. He moved even closer nudging my legs apart with one of his, he settled his thigh against my crotch.

“I guess I’ll just have to make sure you don’t forget it.” He said setting his hands on my hips before he reached one around he flicked open my pants and shoved his hand in going right to my clit. He pressed down hard making my hips buck against him, I bit my lower lip holding back my moans as he continued on to shove two fingers into me. I clenched around the sudden intrusion not prepared for him to move so fast I whimpered as he pulled his fingers out then thrust them right back in. “Don’t hold your tongue now. I’m going to make you scream my name.” He growled in my ear. 

I grabbed the edge of the bar determined to make him work for it. “Well go ahead then,” I breathed. 

He chuckled, “Oh you’re going to regret that.”

“You know the funny thing is, I don’t think I will,” I said as he thrust a third finger into me, drawing a moan from me.

“We’ll see about that.” His other hand ran up under my shirt raising it up as he went, tugging on my bra harshly, it quickly gave out. His hand quickly worked at one of my nipples tracing around it before pinching it between his fingers and twisting hard. I gasped as the pain fed into the pleasure intensifying the sensations flooding my body. Thrusting his fingers back in me he pressed his palm down over my clit and the delicious drag it sent through me made me scream out as my first orgasm ripped through me. “Now, that’s a scream but let's make that scream my name.” 

He pulled my pants down to my knees and gripping my hips he thrust into me. “Fuck,” I whimpered as he rammed into me moving faster and harder with every thrust. “Please,” I begged, I didn’t know if I was begging him to stop or for more.

He angled my hips hitting the spot deep inside me that sent sparks through me. “Say my name,” he ordered, “Say it.” I blinked not quite processing his command, “Say my name!” 

I keened as he hit that spot again, stars bursting across my vision I blacked out.

* * *

I limped getting back to the ship, having been thoroughly fucked I was barely able to keep my knees from trembling. I retreated to my room and chucked off my jacket to start stripping, intending to shower off the remains of my encounter, but I was interrupted before I got the chance. Snart stood in the door of my room, “Yes,” I arched my brow at him.

“How’d your encounter with Deathstroke go?”

“Peachy,” I snarked as I looked him in the eye.

“Well we're going to go help Sara save the baby archer from your boy toy, leaving in five.”

I clenched my teeth glaring at him furiously. “I’ll be there.” I said tersely, he left and I turned to put on my suit instead of taking the shower I really wanted.

* * *

Ray, Kendra and I flew towards the fight landing in the midst of it, we immediately jumped into the fight. Ray and I sent blasts into the crowd to whittle down the numbers. “How did you convince Rip to stay?” Sara asked without a pause in her fighting.

Ray answered for us, “Actually sending in the cavalry was his idea?”

“Cowards, all!” Mick yelled, sending one last blast of fire at the fleeing grunts.

We all approached the stage where Oliver and baby archer had caught Deathstroke. “Oliver?” Ray asked hesitantly.

“It's good to see you again, Ray. Kendra. Chloe. Thanks for the assist.” Oliver said nodding at each of us.

“So who's that?” Kendra asked.

“His name is Grant Wilson. Once upon a time, his father, Slade, tried to ruin my life.” Oliver explained.

“That's not a nice family.” Ray said sadly.

Turning to baby archer Oliver said, “That's good shooting, John.”

“It's Connor.” He said snappishly, handing Oliver back the fancy bow.

“Either way, it's Green Arrow.”

* * *

“All right, Gideon, let's see if these repairs that Martin, Ray, and Jax made are up to scratch.” Rip said as he and Sara joined the rest of us on the main deck.

**_As far as I can tell, Ms. Saunders did most of the work, while the two gentlemen competed for..._ **

“Just get us out of here. Please, Gideon.” Stein said, trying to hide something.  _ Well I guess Jax failed at trying to ask Kendra out. _ “So where to next, Captain?” He asked Rip as we all strapped into our seats.

“Well, the beauty of this mission is that the real question is not where, but when. In which case, I suggest that we next hit Savage when he least expects it.”


	7. Marooned

Rip gathered us all on the main deck. He showed us a message from some timeship called the Acheron that was stranded. “And we care about this chick, why?” Mick asked _a surprisingly good question._

Rip explained, “We don't, but the Acheron's computer will contain the current intel on Savage's whereabouts. Gideon, set a course for the Acheron's position in deep space.” He turned from where he was looking out the window to face us gathered around the main console.

**_Yes, Captain._ **

“Deep space? I had no idea we had the ability to explore the unknown realms of the galaxy. Astonishing.” Stein said amazed, _time travel versus space travel which is more astonishing?_

“No. What's astonishing is that we're acting as roadside assistance for the people who's chasing us.” Jax said vexed by the idea.

Snarted pushed back against the plan, “Doesn't it seem suspicious, this distress call just happened to reach us?”

“How do we know it's not a trap?” Kendra questioned.

“It’s a little too convenient to not be a trap.” I added voicing my suspicion, the omega in me wanted to keep my barely formed pack away from such a risk.

“We don't, but what we do know is that Savage's trail has run cold. And unless Gideon can upload the data from the Acheron's computer…”

“I'm in.” Mick said, interrupting Rip. 

“You are?” Snart asked Mick pointedly.

“The sooner we end Savage, the sooner I get back to where I belong.” Mick said testily, _someone’s bitter._ I noted that Mick’s bond to us, as a pack as tentative a pack as we were, was fraying.

“Prison?” Stein asked.

“Any prison on Earth's better than this one, Professor.” Mick said seriously.

“Gideon.” Rip called.

 ** _Yes, sir._ **

“Engines to full throttle,” he ordered.

**_Of course, Captain._ **

“Professor Stein, Mr. Jackson, would you care to join the boarding party?” Rip asked.

“A chance for an extra-vehicular docking maneuver? What could be more exciting?” Stein said excitedly.

“Well, I could think of a few things.” Jax said vaguely exhaustedly.

“Let's get this thing started.” Mick grumbled.

“Miss Kane. I leave the ship in your hands while we're gone.” Rip directed at me.

“Wait what?” Ray asked incredulously.

Ignoring him, “Are you sure you want to head right into a trap?” I asked Rip.

* * *

“Captain's log. Stardate 837.9. We're awaiting word from the away team aboard the Acheron.” Ray narrated like he was a Star Trek captain

“I hate to break it to you, but you're no Captain Kirk. You're Picard.” Kendra said.

“He’s no captain at all,” I said from my perch on the console, “and I’m regretting letting him play in the Captain’s chair.

Ray looked at me plaintively, “But Picard was cautious, pontificating, sort of sexless,” he said to Kendra.

“Well, tell that to Vash. And for the record, Picard was way hotter than Kirk.” I rolled my eyes at Kendra’s response.

A chime sounded from the console “I'd like to speak to Acting Captain Chloe Kane.”

I turned to the screen, “That has a nice ring to it,” I preened. I hopped off the console before directing my attention to the screen. “And you are?” I asked.

“I'm the man holding your crew hostage.” He said

“Captain Kane, I've informed Mr. Valor of the fiery retribution you'll rain down upon him if we are not released immediately.” Rip said.

“Mm.” The guy said before he punched Rip and slammed him against the console, “I'm gonna make this real simple. You surrender your ship, and I'll drop you off unharmed at a place and time of your choosing. You've got 10 seconds to decide.”

“Or else what? If you want the Waverider for yourself, there's no way you'll fire on us.” Ray said _so not helpful and extremely naive_ I glared at him.

“Perhaps, but right now, I've got my sights set on your captain's head,” the guy said threateningly.

“How problematic...” I started.

“Ten... nine…Eight…” he started counting.

“You see I’m not particularly inclined to give in to your demands,” I said viciously shoving down my omega instincts that wanted to give in to protect the pack.

Ray looked at me alarmed, “You’re bluffing, right?”

“Seven…”

“No,” I said, favoring my tactical training to plot a way to retrieve the rest of the team from the pirates.

“You don't know Kane, and how she survived the ‘Imperiex’ onslaught.” Rip said loud enough for us to hear him through the open channel.

Alarms started blaring and the ship lurched, “Uh, Gideon?” Sara asked.

**_Captain Hunter programmed me to execute certain protocols in response to specific keywords._ **

“What does that mean in English?” Snart asked imperiously.

**_Strap yourselves in. We are on the move and preparing to fire._ **

We all quickly turned and strapped ourselves into the nearest seat. The ship moved and Gideon fired on the Acheron.

“What are you doing, Gideon?” Snart said sharply

**_Just a warning shot to let them know we mean business._ **

“My partner's on that ship.” He snapped back.

**_There's a hull breach in the aft portion of the ship, and the pirates have taken out the telemetry controls._ **

I moved quickly from my seat to the Captain’s chair, “hand over the controls, Gideon,” I ordered.

“What are you doing?” Kendra asked snapping out of her seat startled at my sudden move.

“What does it look like I’m doing?” I snapped at her, “I’m piloting the ship manually.” _Hopefully it’s not much different from the batmobile._

“Where are you guys going?” Kendra asked as Snart and Sara rose from their seats and moved towards the door.

“To deal with the hole in the ship.” Sara said fiercely.

A transmission popped up on the screen next to the front window. “Rip, tell your crew to let us board, and I will happily save them. But either way, we are taking the Waverider,” the pirate said angrily. _Not a chance in hell._

“Take the damn deal, Rip.” I heard Mick say in the background. I didn’t pay it much mind more focussed on flying the ship.

“A captain never surrenders his ship. Besides, you'll never catch Captain Kane. She once outran Kanjar Ro himself.” Rip smirked, _that had better not be another surprise,_ I thought darkly.

**_Engaging protocol now, Captain._ **

“What protocol Gideon?”

* * *

Ray, Kendra, and I ran to the room where the hull breach was. I swore when we got to the sealed door that separated us from Sara and Snart. “Thanks for stopping by,” Sara said through the window.

“We're gonna get you out of here. Just hang tight.” Ray said after looking at the status display by the door.

“Is there another option?” Sara asked.

I eyed them, “Depends how do you feel about potentially getting stuck in the door?”

“It doesn’t particularly appeal to me,” Snart drawled.

“I’ll keep it in mind as a last resort then,” I said.

Snart looked at me seriously, “Don't mean to rush you, Chloe, but it's getting cold in here. Normally I wouldn't complain, but…”

“Can't you just open the doors, Gideon?” Kendra said.

**_The bulkhead is designed to remain shut until the breach is sealed._ **

“Well, that's not happening from in here.” Snart snapped.

Kendra started “How much time do we have until…”

“We're dead?” Sara finished for her.

“What if we don’t have to seal the breach from in there?” I asked absentmindedly as I rolled around an idea in my head. “Ray, can your suit handle a space walk?”

* * *

“How's it going out there?” Kendra said worriedly as she looked out the window into space, and I overlooked the center console.

“Good. By which I mean utterly terrifying. I'll have the breach sealed in two more minutes,” Ray said.

“Okay. How's your oxygen level?”

“Uh, I think the technical term is "lousy.”

“How bad is lousy?” I asked. 

“Just two more minutes. You got this.” Kendra said optimistically.

“Come in if you need to,” I cut in, “because if you pass out while you’re out there then not only do you die so do Sara and Snart,” _why is it that I’m the only one on this team that has fully functioning brain and tactical training._

“Ray, don't go nodding off on me” Kendra said worriedly.

“No, I wasn't. I was just resting my eyes for a second,” Ray said tiredly.

“Ray, I was serious about taking that break if you need it. We don’t need to lose anyone that includes you.”

“You've got to stay with me, Ray. Just stay focused on my voice, and keep talking.” Kendra started a conversation trying to keep Ray awake by semi flirting with him.

“About what? Anything. Like, um, what was your first pet's name?”

“Slinky.”

“Is that a cat?”

“Burmese python. Yeah, I'm allergic to cats and dogs. Pretty much anything without scales.”

“Okay, then, enough about pets. Um, what's your favorite color?”

“Don't have one.”

“Who doesn't have a favorite color?”

“It's kind of like having a favorite Beatle.”

“No, everyone has a favorite Beatle.”

“Not me. Wouldn't be fair to the other three.”

“Okay, fine, enough about pets, and colors, and Beatles.”

“It's a good thing we never went for that drink. This space date is going terribly.”

“Ray? Are you still with me, Ray? Ray? Are you there? Ray?”

“Ray you better not be dieing on us,” I said furiously.

“I'm sorry. It's all I have left.” Ray gasped over the comm

“Ray, are you there?”

**_It seems that Mr. Palmer patched the hole in the hull, allowing Mr. Snart and Ms. Lance to escape the engine room._ **

“Damn it, Ray. Gideon, can you pilot the suit to bring him back on board?”

“Okay, as soon as he's on board, I need you to close the cargo bay and seal the airlock, Gideon.” Kendra said as she ran out.

* * *

“You kids need a moment?” Snart snapped.

“You okay?” Sara asked as we walked into the cargo bay

 ** _Mr. Palmer nearly died._ **

“Welcome to the club,” Snart said sarcastically, “Gideon, what's happening on the Acheron?”

**_Funny you should ask. I just received a message from Mr. Rory. It seems he escaped capture and is now returning to the Waverider._ **

“Told you. Those pirates picked the wrong guy to mess with.” Snart said triumphantly.

We walked towards the jumpship loading dock from the cargo bay. “Since when does Rory even know how to fly the jump ship?” Ray asked as he fiddled with the chest plate on his suit.

“How did he even find us?” Kendra added.

**_Actually, I did the flying. He received quite a beating at the hands of the pirates._ **

“He escaped on his own?” I asked this sinking feeling in my gut, “What about the rest of the boarding party?”

**_I have no news on the rest of the boarding party. That's him now._ **

We stopped at the split in the hall looking towards the opening door waiting for Mick to walk through.

“You okay, Mick?” Snart asked.

Mick looked back over his shoulder instead of responding, “Boys! Ship's all yours!” Unfamiliar men started filing into the hall, they took positions, their weapons pointed at us.

“You son of a bitch.” Ray said _I didn’t know he could curse_.

“What are you doing, Mick?” Snart asked.

“I'm getting us home. Are you in?” He responded.

Snart walked forward pulling his gun, he looked between us and Mick standing with the pirates.“Yeah. Time to choose a side, I guess. Chosen,” he quickly shot towards Mick.

“Bastard! Go! Get them! Go! I'll get the time drive.” Mick yelled before running off. I winced as I felt the tentative pack bonds Mick had made snap.

The pirates quickly ran towards us firing their weapons rapidly, we ducked around the corners. They followed us around the corners where we were able to ambush them because they couldn’t see us. We clashed with them, dispatching them as quickly as they could trying not to let them pass us. Gideon alerted us to the fact that Mick was heading to the time drive, Sara broke away to intercept him followed shortly by Snart. Ray, Kendra and I were able to deal with the rest of the pirates in short order. We raced to the engine room where Snart held Mick at gunpoint.

* * *

We were all gathered in the Captain’s study. Ray spoke first, “Okay. I'll say it. Why don't we just drop him off back in 2016?”

Snart looked directly at Ray and answered him, “Because my sister lives in 2016. And your sister, and your wife.” he said gesturing in turn to Sara and Stein.

Jax looked at Rip and asked, “So what exactly are we talking about here? Leaving Rory in the brig until we take down Savage?” He continued looking around at the rest of us.

“No, no, no, no, the brig is unsuitable for long-term incarceration.” Rip made clear.

Sara stated tensely “Leaving him free run of the ship is not an option.”

“I'll handle it.” Snart said looking down.

“By handling it, you mean murder?” Stein asked disapprovingly.

“I said I'll handle it.”


	8. Night of the Hawk

“I'm not the only one whose vision is blurry in their left eye, am I?” Stein asked worriedly as he removed his glasses.

“Oh. Seeing three of everything? That's normal, right?” Jax added.  _ Jax is getting a taste of the worse side effects because of his link with Stein. _

“Yes, as I mentioned before, the effect of time travel on the human body increases with the length of each jaunt.” Rip explained tiredly.  _ As far as Stein goes the jumps must take more out of him because of his age, especially since the rest of us recover far more quickly.  _

“So where are we?” was directed towards Rip from Kendra as she stood up.

He answered, “Harmony Falls, Oregon. According to Captain Baxter's intel, Savage makes an appearance in this quaint little hamlet.”

“What the hell is Savage doing in Pleasantville?” Jax spoke standing up.

Several news headlines flashed across the view screen. “Murder, apparently. Several denizens of Harmony Falls have been brutally slain, and others have gone missing,” Rip said, filling in the details he had  _ ah, great serial murders in a small town, this is going to be a pain. _

“Huh. Kind of like Rory.” Jax said side eyeing Snart. I could feel the strain recent events had placed on the semi-formed pack bonds.

Rip went on, “Reports are vague, but it seems like the killer is an expert with knives.”

“That sounds like Savage's MO.” Sara said from her seat.

Ray sounded skeptical as he said, “Yeah, but serial killing isn't. Sounds pretty small-time for a guy who's had coffee with Hitler.”

“Yeah, well, clearly we have to assume that Savage has a larger, more nefarious plan. But since we've jumped back in time, Savage isn't expecting us here.” Rip went on with his suspicion turning away from the screen towards the main console.

“Savage is pretty good at hiding, even in a small town, so how do you plan to find him?” Kendra aske doubtfully.

Rip answered quickly explaining his plan, “By investigating these murders. Now, there has to be a common link between the victims, starting with the first. A piano teacher was found slain in her home, which is now on the market. Dr. Matt Miller was found murdered on the grounds of the asylum where he worked. The sanitarium is in need of a replacement. Meanwhile, Jefferson is the perfect age to discern the facts behind the disappearance of three teenagers who went missing a week before these murders began.”

“So Raymond and Kendra are shacking up, Sara's Nurse Ratched, and Jax's the new kid in town. Where does that leave me and Chloe?” Snart asked.

“I’d be fine taking off on my own.” I said quickly wanting to get some distance from the tension, and knowing I’d probably have a fair amount of luck working solo.

“I’m quite sure you would, but I do have a starting point in mind.”

* * *

Rip, Snart and I got out of the car at the police station dressed in the finest business wear Gideon could fabricate. “We're looking for the sheriff.” Rip told the officer behind the front desk as we stepped into the station.

“Well, you found him. Bud Ellison. How can I help you, folks?” He responded quickly.

They stopped in front of the desk, I stood slightly behind them and looked at him with a shy smile on my face, the both held up their badges while Rip introduced us, “Special Agent Rip Hunter. This is my partner, Leonard and our assistant Miss Kane. We are here to investigate the serial murders which have plagued this sleepy old town of yours.” 

“Whoa. Now, slow down there, buddy. There ain't no serial killer anywhere. All we got is some unexplained accidents is all.” The sheriff said defensively as he stood up.

“How about you hand over those case files so we can decide for ourselves?” Snart quickly cut in, “Or we can come back with a court order and a really nasty disposition,” he finished as he picked up a pencil from the sheriff’s desk.

“Anything for our friends at the bureau,” the sheriff quickly backtracked.

Rip turned to me, “Miss Kane do stay to collect those files.”

I smiled up at him sweetly and with murder in my eyes said, “Of course, sir.”  _ I’ll be sure to murder him later _ I thought as I moved closer to the sheriff’s desk.

* * *

Everyone except Sara and Stein were gathered in the Captain’s study once again. “Savage doesn't think I recognize him, which means he won't try to kill me. He can't steal my powers before I've found them.” Kendra said excitedly after she and Ray told us about how they met Savage.

“Don't forget, we also have to figure out why he's killing the townsfolk.”

Kendra looked over at Ray apprehensively, “Are you really eating that?” She asked, as he stuffed his face full of the tuna surprise Savage had given them as a housewarming gift,  _ the surprise might be poison knowing who made it. _

Ray barely paused for a minute, “Say what you want about Savage. He makes one hell of a casserole.”

Rip redirected the conversion, “Yes, well, Mr. Snart, Miss Kane and I have been analyzing these forensic files.”

“Which reveal nothing except Savage is very good at making people disappear.” Snart said.

I looked up, “There is something odd but I haven’t been able to put my finger on it just yet,” I said absentmindedly, I knew there was something there and I just couldn’t see it.

“Hmm, something you both have in common.” Jax sniped at Snart from his seat by the door. Everyone turned to look at him before he continued, “Are we just gonna pretend like none of this happened? That Mick Rory wasn't a part of our team? If you can just ice your best friend like that, I hate to think what you could do to us.” The tactician in me couldn’t help but think that Mick’s end was necessary for the continued survival of the team. The omega on the other hand mourned the loss of a potential packmate. Though something was off it didn’t feel like it had when Jason’s bond snapped but more like when Bruce and Alfred’s had.

Kendra responded, “Right now, we need to stay focused on the mission,” at least someone has their priorities straight.

Rip spoke up quickly to get everyone to focus back on the mission, “Look, Savage is going to be busy with this little cocktail party. Whilst you two keep an eye on him, Sara and Martin have the opportunity to find out what he's doing in the secret wing of that asylum.”

“While that’s happening, I’m going to take another look at those forensics. There’s something odd about them,” I said as everyone went to do their part,  _ I will figure out what I’m missing. _

* * *

“Gideon is anyone else on the ship?”

**_Mr. Snart and Captain Hunter have just returned and are enroute to the med bay._ **

“Thank you, Gideon,” I said before grabbing the files I was looking at to meet them there.

As I approached the med bay I heard Stein say, “These wounds don't appear consistent with a knife.”

“That’s because they’re not. I took a second look at those files and there is no way those wounds were caused by a knife.” I said as I walked into the room. I noticed the cheerleader that Jax had gone to meet had deep scratches along her neck, scratches that matched the ones on all the murder victims.

**_Miss Kane is correct. I believe these lacerations were made by talons._ **

“It was Tommy,” the girl whispered just barely loud enough to be heard.

Rip turned from the monitor tracking her vitals, to look at her, “Tommy Fuller, one of the missing teenagers.”

She spoke again gasping,“He was like a bird. He... he was like a bird monster.”

**_Captain, analysis of Miss Seavers' blood reveals traces of silicate minerals._ **

Rip moved closer to her leaning down he asked, “Miss Seavers, do you recall Tommy coming into contact with a meteor of some kind?”

“The car crash... it was... it was glowing,” she said before passing out.

Stein seemed amazed, “She's talking about an Nth Metal meteorite.”

“Say something that makes sense.” Snart asked.

“It seems Mr. Fuller has come into contact with a meteorite with mutagenic properties.” Stein said as if we all spoke science.

“Try again,” Snart told Stein at the same time I said, “English, professor.”

Rip explained for him, “Apparently, Miss Seavers' boyfriend has been exposed to the same type of meteor that Kendra came into contact with.”

* * *

When Ray and Kendra got to the ship we gathered in the study to explain what we had learned and figure out what to do.

“Me?” Kendra said, not understanding how she was connected to the bird kids.

The professor went on to explain, “Well, you and Carter. 4,000 years ago. The meteorite which gave you your powers appears to be of the same variety that mutated Tommy Fuller.”

“And I'm guessing it's not curable.” Snart unhelpfully added from his seat.

Stein turned to Snart, and sounding uncertain for the first time at least since we had all boarded the ship, “Well, I-I suppose, if the talons which lacerated her left some mutagenic residue, I could…”

Snart rudely interrupted him, “Yes or no?”

“Perhaps,” he said tersely.

“Why don't you get to work on that, Martin?” Rip spoke up, apparently more confident in Stein than Stein himself. Stein walked out going to try and make a cure.

“Okay, so if Savage isn't the one doing the killing, what is he doing in town?” Sara asked.

“He probably has some interest in the meteorite,” I said.

Reaching to grab something from behind his back, Ray spoke up excitedly, “Doesn't matter.”

Kendra finished for him, “We can take him down.”  _ Huh when did they start finishing each other’s sentences _ I wondered.

Rip moved to look closer at the familiar dagger, “The Amon Dagger,” he said excitedly. “Where did you…”

Ray answered before he could finish the question, “Savage's house.”

Rip started in on a half-baked plan, “All right, we need to proceed on two fronts: locate Jefferson and make an all-out assault on Savage.”

Sara interrupted him pointing out the flaws in his plan, “A full-on attack only plays to Savage's strengths. If we want to get him…”

Rip saw sense and cut in finishing Sara’s line of thought, “We need to target his weaknesses. Sadly, very few come to mind.”

Kendra spoke up with a valid idea, “I can think of one. Me. He wants me, and he always has. So if I can get close enough to him, then…”

“Then he'll kill you,” Ray interjected,  _ I can see the lover’s quarrel starting _ . I leaned back in my seat to watch.

“Thank you for the vote of confidence, but I don't need your protection,” Kendra snapped at him,  _ she really doesn’t, pretty sure she’d do better in a fight than Ray would especially without his suit. _

“There's no reason to go alone. We're part of a team for a reason,” Ray tried to get her to change her mind.

“Yes, and the team seems comfortable with me doing this, so that makes it about you and me.” Kendra grabbed the knife and stormed out.  _ Ooohhh I can see the cracks forming, I wonder how long they can really last especially if Ray keeps trying to treat her with kid gloves. _

* * *

I slipped into the asylum between the lobby and Savage’s wing, I cloaked myself before moving through the halls to where I would meet up with Rip and Ray. I saw them walking down the hall towards where I was cloaked, before they got to me the sheriff stepped out of one of the rooms with his gun pointed at them. “Well, well, well. An FBI agent moonlighting at the loony bin. I'm afraid both of you boys have some explaining to do down at the station.”

“I don’t think so,” I said as I dropped my cloak. I swung my staff hitting him in the head hard enough for him to cause him to fall unconscious. We moved to continue down the hall and before long an alarm went off and we could hear screams coming from every part of the asylum.

* * *

The next day we all split up to wrap up loose ends. I ran into Ray, Sara and Kendra coming back to the ship. We walked towards the waverider, idlying talking about how we liked our time much better than the 1950s. “1958's swell and all, but I miss the Internet... and cell phones.” Kendra said, summing it all up perfectly as we reached the last stretch to the ship.

The ship suddenly powered on, “Uh... what are they doing?” Ray asked.

“Hey. Hey!” We all shouted trying to catch their attention as we ran forwards.

They took off long before we got to them, “Where did they go?” Kendra asked.

“Better question: why did they leave us?” Sara said.

“And how are we going to get back?”


	9. Left Behind

The day after we stopped Savage’s experiments, we all split up to wrap up loose ends. I ran into Ray, Sara and Kendra. We walked towards the waverider, idlying talking about how we liked our time much better than the 1950s. “1958's swell and all, but I miss the Internet... and cell phones.” Kendra said, summing it all up perfectly as we reached the last stretch to the ship.

The Waverider suddenly powered on, “Uh... what are they doing?” Ray asked.

“Hey. Hey!” We all shouted trying to catch their attention as we ran forwards.

They took off long before we got to them, “Where did they go?” Kendra asked.

“Better question: why did they leave us?” Sara said.

“And how are we going to get back?”

* * *

We stood in the snowy field looking up at where the waverider had been, “We just have to stay calm. Wherever they time jumped... whenever... they'll come back to this exact same moment,” Ray said trying and failing to sound calm.

We stayed put for about ten minutes before, “They're not coming back. Let's go,” Sara said brusquely.

Ray tried to take control and be the voice of reason, “Look, as a former Eagle Scout with over 100 merit badges... no big deal... the first rule of getting lost is stay in the same place. That way, you can be found.”

“And as a former member of the League of Assassins, the first rule when you've been attacked is to keep moving.” Sara said impatiently.

Kendra spoke up, “I sort of think League wisdom trumps the Eagle Scouts here. Plus, Savage is still out there.”

“It does, he is, and so we definitely need to move, get as far away from Harmony Falls as we can.” I said. For once my tactical training and Omega instincts agreed we needed to move.

“Guys, the rest of the team would not leave us marooned in 1958.” Ray tried to argue.

Sara snapped at Ray, “Except for, that's exactly what they did. You said it yourself... you have a time machine, and you're never late.” She paused before continuing somberly, “They're not coming back.”

“Hey everything will work out somehow,” I said releasing calming pheromones to soothe the tension.

* * *

Early the next morning we found an unattended parking lot with a decent amount of cars. Picking a car from the lot we quickly broke in and started to hotwire it, “One good thing about 1958: no car alarms,” Sara said smoothly.

“I didn't think they had cars in Nanda Parbat.” Kendra chuckled.

Sara laughed, “Dated a lot of delinquents as a teenager.”

“And here I just thought everybody knew how to do this,” I said humorously. Sara got the car to spark to life, and quickly got in behind the wheel. I jumped in the passenger seat leaving the back row for the love birds.

Ray, ever the boy scout, started, “And now we're the delinquents. If we leave Harmony Falls, how's the rest of the team gonna find us?”

Sara leaned out of the car to answer him, harshly saying, “We don't know if they're looking for us. But we know Savage is. We can't take him. That means we can't stay here.”

“Let's go.” Kendra said softly before she got into the car.

* * *

Ten days later, Sara, Kendra, and I walked into the apartment we were renting in Hub City, “Oh, what did you do to our apartment?” Sara asked Ray seeing the monstrous thing he was fiddling with and the mess surrounding him.

Ray turned to us excitedly explaining, “I'm creating a time beacon... a transponder which matches the Waverider's quantum signature, basically creating a radio wave firewall that only our team can see.” I rolled my eyes  _ ever the optimist. _

“It's cute that you think any of us understood a word of that. But I hope it works.” Kendra said, trying to be gentle with him.

“In the meantime, maybe we should invest in some real beds.” Sara said loudly.

“That is the best idea I’ve heard all week,” I cheered, moving past Ray's hurricane.

* * *

Three weeks later, I could feel the fire building in my veins, I knew my heat was coming on and I didn’t have access to suppressants.  _ The hell am I supposed to do now. _ I made my way out to where Sara was sharpening her knives and cuddled up to her, she made space for me to rest my head against her stomach breathing in her scent calmed the fire for a time.

I could vaguely hear Ray, Kendra and Sara talking from where I had burrowed my face into Sara. They gently tried to get my attention, releasing calming pheromones that cleared my head, “Chloe, how can we help you through this?” I whimpered as my head started to get foggier, “need alpha, please.” I could feel myself being settled into where I had built a nest in what had become my room. Someone laid next to me pulling my in to settle with my nose pressed into their scent gland. They cared for me for the duration of my heat, strengthening the bonds between us.

When my heat ended I woke up cradled between Sara and Kendra

* * *

Ten weeks later, Kendra, Sara, and I were playing Life while Ray kept working on his fancy radio. “Congratulations. You are a doctor.” Sara told Kendra after reading one of the game cards.

Kendra laughed, “You know, I thought about going to medical school once.”

Sara handed Kendra a couple of the money notes, “Here you go. $10,000 salary.”

“That's it? I made more as a barista.” She said incredulously.

“Seriously,” I laughed as I twirled a lock of Sara’s hair around my finger.

Sara chuckled darkly, “Well, it's 1958. You're lucky to make that as a woman.”

“Touché. Your turn.” Kendra leaned back as she looked to Sara.

She sighed, “I miss Netflix.”

A whirring noise came from the next room as Ray suddenly yelled out in excitement, “Aha! The time beacon radio is officially complete.”

“Well, great.” Kendra smiled at him as we moved over to watch what he was doing.

“How exactly is this supposed to work?” I asked carelessly. I didn’t really care but I could use a distraction from the monotony that was our lives now. I leaned against the wall looking into the room.

“Okay, here we go. Come on. Here we go. Hope there's a spot on that game that says ‘Return to the Waverider,’ because that's what's about to happen. Here we go.” Ray said before his radio started sparking and a part of it exploded, I laughed at the sight as Ray said, “I just have to fix a few of the kinks. The next version will be much less explosive.”

Sara sighed heavily and leaned over the chair, “Next version? I thought you said you were gonna say something to him,” Sara snapped at Kendra.  _ Did she really think that was going to happen with how much Kendra babies him? _

“Say what?” Ray asked looking over at Kendra.

“That your beacon... it's a waste of time. They're not coming back, Ray. And it's not because the Waverider is broken, or they're lost, or they can't find us, or whatever. It's because they're dead.” Sara ranted as she moved forward towards Ray, “And the sooner that you accept that, the sooner you can move on... the sooner we can all move on.” Sara turned moving towards the door as she finished.

By this point Ray looked like a kicked puppy by the time she was finished. “So what? We're just supposed to give up?” He asked. I leaned my head against the wall knowing this was the end of the road for Sara.

“On being rescued, yeah.” Sara said furiously as she reached to grab the bag she had packed by the door.

“Sara, what are you doing?” Kendra asked when she saw Sara’s bag. I picked my head up off the wall and straightening up I moved back into the living room.

“I can't stay here. I need to find somewhere I belong.” I stayed quiet letting Sara have her moment. We all needed a clean break and Ray dragging this out is just going to make it hurt more.

“Sara, wait. You can't go.” Ray said scrambling to salvage the situation.  _ He’s in for a lot of disappointment tonight. _

Ignoring him, Sara went on, “Savage is still out there. Don't draw undue attention on yourselves.”

“Sara.” Kendra tried to stop her.

Sara stopped in the doorway, “Look, you three have each other. Most people, in any time period, aren't that lucky. Take care.” I felt my eyes watering as Sara left,  _ am I doomed to always be part of a pack that breaks. _

“Sara’s right we need to move on. We can’t keep living in the past. We have to make the most of what we have now.” I said.

“You’re leaving too?” Ray asked with that kicked puppy look in his eye.

“I considered it but you guys have become pack to me and I know leaving would hurt me more than help.”

* * *

“Two years. You left us stranded in 1958.”

“That was never my intention.”

“Can't we rev the ship back up, go back to 1958, and pick that us up?”

“You know very well that we can't.”

“Travel back to events we participated in without time folding in on itself.”

“Raymond. Good to see you.”

“Good to see you.”

“Glad you're back.”

“Martin.”

“It's just... I have 50 midterms to grade next week... by hand... and I've just come to terms with living in the technological dark ages. I have students who count on me. Kendra, Chloe, and I have friends and a life…” I moved cuddling up under Ray’s arm releasing calming, comforting pheromones knowing how hard he had struggled with letting go.

“Ray.”

“This is what we've been waiting for. Remember the mission. We can finally be ourselves again.”

“Look, I'm sorry. This is all... very intense. It's been two years for us. We thought you guys were dead.”

“That very well might have been the case. Chronos attacked us. He sabotaged the ship and took Snart. We need to recover Ms. Lance as well. Where is she?”

“Uh, no idea. People go their separate ways, lose track of each other.”

“Gideon, search the timeline for any reference of a Sara Lance, or a blonde vigilante circa 1960.”

**_Right away, Captain._ **

* * *

I was still recovering from my last heat, so I stayed back on the ship while the rest of the team went to get Sara. When they came back they brought more than just Sara.

We all stood around the cell watching as Mick paced and promised to kill us all. I stood closest to Snart sending out pheromones to comfort him because of how hard I could tell he was taking this. The omega in me desperately wanted to bundle him into my nest to blanket him in comforting pheromones. “You think this is all over? I will kill every single one of you. I will watch you all burn! You... you should have killed me when you had the ch…” Finally Rip cut off the sound from the cell so we didn’t have to listen to him rave anymore.

Rip turned from the cell to look straight at Snart where he leaned against the wall clutching his handless arm. “You owe us an explanation,” he said.

“Yes, it's quite remarkable Mr. Rory is working for the Time Masters, considering you killed him.” Stein said accusingly.

Snart drawled, “If you think back, I never actually said I killed him.”

“No, you just let us think that you did,” Jax interjected.

Snart snapped at Jax’s words, “I didn't have to try too hard, did I? Well, maybe I should have. And at least he wouldn't have wound up a chew toy for the Time Masters.” I pushed out more calming pheromones working to bring the whole team to a place where we could have a reasonable discussion.

“But if you did, we wouldn't have this opportunity.” Rip said, seeing some bright side.

“An opportunity? To do what?” Ray asked,  _ I would’ve thought he out of anyone would know whatever bright side Rip could see in this mess. _

Rip turned leaning against the cell to look at Mick, “To reform Mr. Rory.”

“He killed Aldus.” Kendra said angrily.

“Under the influence of the Time Masters,” Rip defended him.

Stein surprisingly added to his defense, “Chronos killed Aldus. Mr. Rory was fighting on our side that day.”

“I know what it's like to be trained by an organization for one purpose, to kill, and the kind of loyalty that it can inspire. I need to know that we can reach Rory. For my own sake.” Sara sympathized seeing the similarities to herself.

“The Time Masters took one of our own and turned him against us. I say we undo their handiwork.” Stein advocated for trying to redeem Mick.

Ray spoke up, “Rory saved my life back in the gulag. He's more than just a criminal and an arsonist.”

Jax added to it all, “He's a member of our team.”

“He's a lost cause.” Snart yelled.

Everyone looked to me for my opinion, “Sometimes people break and sometimes they can’t be fixed, but sometimes they can.” I knew how it felt to be broken and how it felt to not know if you could put yourself back together and so far I hadn’t. But I hoped that the people around me wouldn’t give up on me, so I knew we couldn’t give up on Mick. The omega in me was pleased with the opportunity to heal a part of our pack.

“Oh, I wouldn't be so sure about that. You will see that miracles abound on this old timeship.” Rip said,  _ I just hope he’s right because I’m pretty sure we’re all at least a little broken. _

* * *

We were all gathered back on the main deck having settled back onto the ship, “I believe we're ready to leave 1960.” Rip said.

“And go where? I mean, when?” Sara asked.

“2147. Mere decades before Vandal Savage conquered the world.”

“I thought you had no idea where he was,” came the snarky jab from Snart.

“You said Savage had been lost to history.” Stein said by far more diplomatically.

“Not world-changing history. Records of the period are scarce, but I've always known that Vandal Savage can be located in 2147.”

“So why haven't you told us this sooner?” Jax asked.

“Because that period of history is fraught with more peril than I was willing to risk. We have no choice but to stop Vandal Savage in 2147... or to die trying.”  _ Isn’t that what we’ve been trying to do. _

“Well, I've died before.” Kendra looked down then back up as she said.

“So have I.” Sara said standing up from her seat on the step into the study. 

We all moved to sit down and strapped in while Rip said, “Gideon, plot a course for Kasnia Conglomerate... The year 2147.”


	10. Progeny

Rip was catching Sara, Kendra, Snart and I up on what he learned about what Savage was doing in the Kasnia Conglomerate in 2147. “He's a teacher,” Sara said, summing up Rip’s main point.

“Tutor, it would seem, to young Per Degaton himself,” Rip specified,  _ like the particular wording matters, but it doesn’t really explain why Savage’s role here is important _ .

Snart spoke up from his usual seat in the study, “You say that like it's supposed to mean something.”

Rip sighs, “After the death of his father in five year's time, Per Degaton unleashes the Armageddon Virus, which decimates the world's population, leaving it ripe for conquest. Per Degaton primes the world for dictatorship, and then when the time is right... Savage snatches that power away from him.”

“By killing Per Degaton.” Sara filled in the obvious end to Rip’s statement.

“Indeed.”

Kendra joined the conversation, “Okay, so we don't have what we need to take out Savage, but maybe now we can figure out a way to stop his rise to power.”

“So what are we going to do about it?” I asked but I already knew that he had an answer and what that course likely meant for Per Degaton’s life expectancy.

Rip explained, “By depriving him of his springboard, Per Degaton.”

“Okay, how do we do that?”  _ That should be obvious by now, but I guess not everyone thinks so gruesomely. _

Snart quickly expounded making our course crystal clear, “It's quite simple, really. We kill the little bastard ourselves.”  _ How hard could it be to kill one kid? _

* * *

Stein walked towards where we were gathered around the center console, “To be clear, we're talking about murdering a child…”

Jax picked up where he trailed off, “Who hasn't done anything to anyone…”

“Yet, so why don't we pick him off now, while the picking's easy? Snart interrupted impatiently.

Kendra looked over, “There's got to be a better way,” she said.

Ray chimed in, “How do we even know that this Per Degaton kid's path to becoming a world-ruling dictator is inevitable?” Trying to aid Kendra.

Rip walked out of the study to join us saying, “Because in the future that I'm from, children learn about Per Degaton in the same way that children in your time learn about Adolf Hitler.”

“What about addressing the larger societal problems that would allow such a despot's rise to power?” Stein desperately tried to find another solution.

“Trying to address societal problems would take years or a down right miracle,” I started.

Snart interrupted me, not looking at anyone he said, “We already know what pushes this punk to the dark side: Savage.”

“The good of the many is more important than the few, or in this case one,” I finished explaining my reasoning.  _ This is our best option. _ Though the omega in me cringed at the thought of killing a kid.

Jax lashed out, “Look, it's not the kid's fault he's got an immortal psychopath as his tutor,” he said looking at Snart and I.

“If we don't kill the kid now, Savage will as soon as he's done using him to take over the world,” Snart snapped back.

“Ending him now would be a mercy and would save millions of lives,” I spoke the truth calmly,  _ anger isn’t going to help us. _ I flinched as Ray and Kendra looked at me with disappointment in their eyes.

Rip built off both of our words, “If he doesn't build him into the greatest tyrant the world has ever known, Savage can't become the last tyrant the world will ever know.”

“Murdering a child in cold blood just like Savage murdered your own son.” Stein spoke his words conveyed how troubled he felt, “What's the use in saving the world if we stoop to his methods to do so?”

“I'm with Professor Stein.” Ray spoke,  _ I expected Ray to have issues, he is one of the least broken of us all _ , I thought sadly.

“Okay, fine. If y'all don't have the guts to kill this kid…” Snart started trailing off trying to prompt a solution from one of the naysayers.

I sighed, “Then what’s the next best thing?”  _ This is not going to go our way but when does anything. _

“Then removing him from the timeline might be the next best thing.” Rip caved to their sentiment,  _ I wonder how long that will last in the face of what he stands to lose _ .

Ray spoke happy to be moving away from the talk of murder, “Great, we've gone from infanticide to child abduction. Progress.”

“First we need to devise how to abduct him from underneath the noses of his father's private guard.” Rip said, starting to form a plan.

“And don't forget the army of Atom robots.” Ray spoke adding a complication to the mix,  _ very helpful. _

Rip finished with what could barely count as a plan by looking over at Snart, “We're going to need an accomplished thief.”

“Well, while you're kidnapping baby Hitler, Professor Stein and I will sabotage the robot army.” Ray said adding his contribution to making this mission a success.

Jax quickly spoke up, “I call Team Robot Army.”

“Isn't that a waste of time?” Sara, who had been noticeably quiet so far, asked.

“Not for the Kasnian citizens who are tormented by my technology,” Ray said showcasing his moral calling,  _ Bruce would have loved his moral conviction, at least he would have before. _

“That technology does lead to Savage's rise to power. Good backup plan.” Rip approved Ray’s plan seeing it’s potential benefits.

“Fine, Team Kidnapping.” Sara volunteered, raising her hand.

“Go team.” Rip said, raising his fist.

“Right, I guess I’m on babysitting duty, then.” I said before walking out.  _ I wonder how disappointed Bruce and my family would be to see me advocating the death of a child? _

* * *

I grabbed a couple of bottles of scotch before I moved into the room with the cell housing Mick. Waving one of the bottles towards Mick, “Drink with me?” I said. He grunted so I slid the bottle through the glass and set it on the ground. I sat with my back against the glass, we both opened our bottles and started drinking in silence.

After a few minutes in silence, Mick asked, “So what’s bugging you?”

“I’m conflicted,” I sighed, “for years I lived by this code, and then it all changed. We broke the code and that broke us, it set free a darkness that I can’t control.” I took a long drag from my bottle.

Mick spoke, “What’s the point in controlling it? Setting it loose is so much more fun.”

I leaned my head back, “Some days I’m not sure I want to. I used to work so hard to be good because that’s what people expected. No matter how off it felt, I would choose the option that people expected me to, the one they called right.”

“People’s expectations just hold you back. They make you weak,” Mick growled at me.

I chuckled lightly, “We had a plan to kill this kid and the tactician in me told me that it was the right, the best option. Whereas my instincts protested the very thought.” I turned to look at Mick, “Does that make me a monster?”

* * *

I walked onto the bridge just as something impacted the waverider. “Gideon?” Stein asked.

**_Tor Degaton's forces have surrounded the ship._ **

A view of armored men firing at the ship came up on the console.

**_I'm afraid our shields will not be able to sustain continued bombardment._ **

“You're afraid?” Sara exclaimed after a particularly hard blast made us all shake.

“Here's an idea: why don't you fire back?” Snart commanded.

**_I would, except..._ **

“The flying robots already targeted our weapons systems.” Jax finished for Gideon having seen something on the console.

Ray started moving around the console, “We don't need weapons.”

“He's right. We have super powers.” Stein added, we all moved quickly to get ready for a fight.

After a quick change, we raced out of the ship heading straight for the soldiers, I fired several blasts at men before engaging with the ones that managed to get close. “I think this is yours.” Snart said as he picked up one of their bombs and tossed it back at them.

Ray and Kendra split off to try and stop the robots from their base. I joined Firestorm in flying around trying to pick them off while occasionally sending blasts at the men on the ground trying to make sure Sara and Snart didn’t get overrun. I stopped moving in the air as the robots suddenly dropped, “Looks like Raymond was able to sabotage his robot army,” Snart said as we landed.

Firestorm moved towards him, “Which means mopping up the rest of these guys shouldn't be a problem.

I swore at him, “Why would you jinx it like that?”

“Oh, it will be a problem.” Savage said as he stepped forward holding a knife to Sara’s throat. I cursed,  _ How did I let that slip by me? _

Snart charged his weapon, pointing it at Savage menacingly, “What do you want?”

Savage quickly demanded, “I want to exchange this woman's life for your captain, Rip Hunter.”

“I have a better idea: her life in exchange for his. Your son will be returned to you as soon as you guarantee our safe passage.” We all turned as Rip suddenly spoke up from somewhere behind us.

The little alpha spoke up, “Don't do it, Father. If you let them go now, they will only come back for us in the future.”  _ Seriously how fucked up is this kid obviously lacking a survival instinct. _

“It's your choice.” Rip cocked his gun.

“Your son is right. We should kill them all.” Savage supported the brat.

The brat’s father quickly pulled Savage’s knife from Sara’s throat, and turning towards his men ordered, “Put down your weapons!”

“No, Father.” The brat protested  _ Savage really fucked this kid up. _

“Let my son go, and I will let you leave in peace. You have my word.” The brat shook his head in dismay at his father’s words.

Rip released the brat, “Better find yourself a new mentor, kid,” Snart said as he passed him.

* * *

“They're called the Hunters, mercenaries, and unlike me, there isn't a human part left in them.” Mick said grimly as we all

“So they want to lock us all up in the Vanishing Point?” Ray said,  _ how optimistic as usual. _

“I’m pretty sure that’s not what a mercenary does,” I rolled my eyes. I looked between Mick and Snart eyeing Snart’s injuries, I wondered what happened between them. The omega in me purred as Mick started to reform his bonds to the pack.

Mick spoke again clarifying for the hopeful or naive, “The Hunters do one thing: kill, whenever, wherever, and they'll stop at nothing till every single one of us is erased from the face of history.”

Rip asked in response, “Do you have any suggestions as to how we might outsmart them, Mr. Rory?”

“Run.”


	11. The Magnificent Nine

We dropped out of the last jump, “Aah! It's been quite a while since I time-jumped far enough to experience side effects. Fond memories.” Rip said as he stumbled getting up.

I chuckled as Jax started slapping himself, “I can't feel my face.”

Snart kicked one of his feet up on his other knees, “Fine feel I.” I started giggling hysterically,  _ these side effects keep getting funnier as we go. _

Rip turned towards him, “Linguistic dysplasia, that should pass shortly.”

“Better it now” was grumbled.

“Am I the only one who can't feel their face?” Jax asked worriedly as he started walking around.

“I can't feel my…” Ray started as he stood up. “I better not say.”

Stein stood up, “Mr. Rory appears unaffected.”  _ Mick was definitely asleep. _

Mick woke up from his little nap, “What's going on? We time-jump?” he asked sleepily.

“Yeah, we time-jumped.” Sara said, annoyed by his nonchalant attitude. “But "where to?" is the better question.” She said as she stood up and moved towards the console.

“The town of Salvation, the Dakota territory, 1871.” Rip said looking into the study before turning back towards us.

“I can't believe it... the Old West.” Ray said excitedly. _ After living with him for two years I can decisively say that excited is definitely his default setting. It’s almost sickening but at the same time kind of cute. _

“This isn't going to work.” Mick grumbled.

“It'll buy us time. We can hide out here while the Hunters search the other Fragmentations.”

“So we have at least enough time to get a drink,” I said seeing my bright side.

“What if they decide to check this place first?” Mick said to poke a hole in Rip’s plan.

Kendra gestured to all of us saying, “You know, feel free to loop us in whenever it's convenient.”

Rip turned from leaning his back against the console to facing us, “As you've seen, time doesn't operate as is generally thought. It wants to happen. It takes time to harden. The... the timeline is unclear on occasion, constantly in flux.”

Stein interrupted him clarifying, “Hence the difficulty in locating Savage throughout history.”

Rip agreed with him, “Indeed. And one of the other interesting notions of time travel is the existence of Fragmentations.”

“Temporal blind spots, specific places and times the Time Masters can't see.” Mick explained darkly before moving to stand by the study.

“The town of Salvation and its surrounding environs are located within one of these Fragmentations.” Rip explained our location.

Snart stood up moving to stand by Mick, “So, basically, we're hiding out in the Old West and hoping your boogeymen don't find us here.”

“The Hunters are not boogeymen. And you better hope they don't find us,” Mick nodded to him.

Ray spoke up more excitement in his voice than ever, “Well, at least not until I get a chance to ‘punch a few doggies’ or ‘bust a bronco’ or two. Not that I condone animal cruelty. It's just that I watched a lot of Westerns as a kid.”

“So about that drink…” I trailed off looking at Rip. 

“Alas, you'll have to enjoy the Old West from in here, I'm afraid.” Rip said as he walked into the study.

Sara piped up, “Oh, come on. What's the harm in us just taking a look around?”

“And getting a drink,” I added quickly. I pushed out compelling pheromones trying to get him to cave.

Stein tried shooting us down, “With this group? Clearly, you haven't been paying attention.”

Ray scoffed at the idea, “Ugh, if I'm in the Old West and I don't get to look around, I'm going to kick myself.”

“I could help with that,” Snart added helpfully.

“I'll keep an eye on them. Don't worry. I'll be a good boy.” Mick said to Rip nodding before turning to walk away.  _ Mick’s going to keep an eye on us, that’ll be something new. _

* * *

“I look just like Wyatt Earp.” Ray chuckled as he admired his old west outfit.

Rip walked in moving to pull a drawer out, “Now, the fabricator can make clothing, but you're also going to need era-appropriate protection. This era can get a little, uh, rough.”

“Oh, six shooters?” Jax asked after seeing the weapons Rip wass inspecting.

“Actually, most guns of that time period had hammer blocks, thus reducing the number of shots to five,” Ray spoke quickly to correct his assumption.

“Now, this should go without saying, but considering this group, I am going to say it... only use these weapons in the case of extreme emergencies.” Rip said as he begrudgingly handed out the period appropriate weapons to Kendra, Sara, and I.

“Emergency only, got it,” I said chuckling lightly, holstering it while Rip looked at me in consternation.

Kendra looked at him as he walked by her, “You make it sound like you're not coming with.”

“From your duster and revolver, I'd imagined you as much an Old West aficionado as Dr. Palmer,” Stein pointed out.

“Indeed I am. But my time is best spent back here on the ship, plotting our next move against Vandal Savage. Besides, as Mr. Rory says, it's only a matter of time before the Hunters find us here,” Rip said,  _ there is a story there. _

“Don't worry. We're not going to put down roots,” Snart said from where he was leaning against the wall.

Sara did a few tricks while inspecting her gun, “Yeah, we'll stay out of trouble.”

“Mm, how I hope and pray that to be true.”

* * *

People stared as we walked through town and into the bar, “Remember, we're just here to get the lay of the land. No trouble.” Stein tried to remind us.

“Sure that'll happen.” Sara said,  _ a truer statement has never been made. _

“I need a drink.” Mick said quickly heading to the bar.

“I am also here for the drinks” I said, moving to follow.

“That tastes like gasoline.” Kendra said having barely taken a sip of her shot.

“Pretty much. Hit me again.” Mick said, holding out his glass for more, I gestured to the bartender to fill mine’s too, Kendra walked away. Mick and Sara started talking about the way Mick had changed after his time as Chronus. “You two can handle your liquor. I like that,” he said gesturing between us. I preened, the omega within me pleased at having impressed one of our makeshift pack’s alphas.

“I've been on more than a few dates with guys who thought we'd get wasted and they'd get lucky, but somehow they always ended up the ones under the table,” Sara chuckled.

I turned, “I’ve just done a lot of drinking,” shrugging I continued, “and a faster metabolism helps.”

“Mm. You haven't drunk with me.” Mick practically challenged.

Sara had to clarify as we eyed him, “Is that a challenge, Mick?”

“Line them up,” he told the bartender.  _ Oh this’ll be fun. _

After Mick passed out on the bar, a gunshot from the poker tables drew our attention away from our drinking, “Your friend drew first, got put down. It was a clean shot,” Snart said from his position in the middle.

“Do we look like we care about ‘clean’?” Some random guy asked before he lunged at Snart.

“He has a point,” Stein said. The bar quickly descended into chaos as everyone jumped to side with their crew, the piano guy played a faster set.

Another gunshot sounded, “All right! Playtime's over. Anybody's got a problem with that, they answer to me,” some local guy took charge ending our spot of fun.

“Thank you, Mister…” Stein said hesitantly.

“Hex. Jonah Hex. You're not from around here, are you?” He asked Stein.

Stein responded, “No. My friends and I are, uh... from out of town.” 

I moved back to the bar to get another drink only vaguely paying attention to make sure no one got themselves killed. I leaned against the bar, by where Mick was passed out. When I started listening to the conversation again, I heard “You think you're the first time travelers I've ever come across?” I paused, then shrugged my shoulders before getting another drink,  _ this definitely has something to do with whatever Rip was hiding, but did I care enough to pay attention. _ I groaned as the rest of the team left with the guy, I downed one last shot before waking up Mick to return to the ship.

* * *

I slipped to my room with the bottle I took from the bar before we came back to the ship. I sat on my bed looking at the glass of bourbon I had just poured myself. I closed my eyes before knocking back the glass,  _ crude but effective, _ every glass I had helped to suppress both my omega instincts and dark impulses.

* * *

We stood in the center of the town as Stillwater’s gang rode in, “I'll be drawing for Sheriff Palmer.” Rip called out to them. I silently sipped from my flask knowing that either way this would be over quickly, then I could grab another bottle of 1870s whiskey.

The Stillwater guy asked, “How do me and my boys know you're going to keep your word?” Snart said something to him as he handed him a revolver, “Then he should be the one in the street.”

After Rip shot the guy, Jax jogged over to us from where he was freed, “Jefferson, are you all right?” Stein immediately asked, rushing up to him.

“Yeah.” Jax said, he turned to Rip asking, “Did you just shoot somebody for me?”

“Yeah. You're welcome.” Rip said simply,  _ someone has started thinking with a pack mentality. _

Noticing something Sara walked forwards, “I don't think we're done here yet.”

Rip moved towards Sara, “Oh, no,” he said seeing three figures decked out in future weapons stalking towards us. “They found us.”

The townspeople started running inside, “Ah, friends! Welcome.” Mick said as he shot at them then held his hands out in welcome.

“I think you'll find this slightly more effective than your current sidearm.” Rip said handing Hex one of his guns, “Yes, I will be wanting that back, by the way. And you'll be needing this,” he said as he held out Ray’s suit.

Ray questioned, “What about revealing our future tech to the locals?”

“It doesn't seem to bother them. Shall we?” Stein said quickly, turning to merge with Jax.

“This should be fun,” I muttered tucking away my flask as I moved forward purposefully. I knew that I could still fight these guys even with how drunk I was. I joined Firestorm in the sky getting a higher point from which I could throw blasts at the hunters. I landed when people started exiting the buildings after the fight ended, I looked around, sighing I strode towards the saloon to get another bottle of whiskey the others could handle the clean up.

* * *

Kendra and Ray walked into where we were gathered on the bridge, “So how are you feeling, given your concerns about becoming addicted to this era once again?” Stein asked Rip.

“The last time I left, Martin, I did it to be with those closest to me.” Rip said he chuckled lightly before saying, “I'm doing the same again,” a little softer than the rest. I smiled into my drink pleased he was forming bonds within the pack.

“So where to now?” Snart asked from where he was leaning against the console with Sara next to him.

“Or, more specifically, when?” Sara asked the right question for a group of time travellers leaning towards Snart she stressed the ‘when’.

“Is there another Fragmentation we can hide out in?” Kendra followed up with.

Rip shook his head, “Unfortunately, matters are not quite so simple.”

Jax groaned, “How'd I know you were gonna say something like that?”

“Rip's buddies,” Mick started.

Ray interrupted, “And yours.”

Mick ignored him continuing, “The Time Masters have issued Omega Protocols on all of us.”

“That sounds pretty terrible.” Ray said from where he was standing by the window with his hands in his pockets.

“The worst kind of order they can issue…” Mick said, walking forwards he continued, “they've sent the Pilgrim after us.”

Jax looked over to Mick and asked, “Who's the Pilgrim?”

Rip spoke instead, “The Pilgrim is the Time Masters' most deadly assassin, and she will stop at nothing until each and every one of you are dead.”

“Ooh, scary. Pretty sure we can handle ourselves.” Snart said jokingly.

“Indeed... which is why she won't be going after the present-day versions of you.” Rip added  _ that might be a problem _ .

Mick finished, “She's hunting our younger selves. And she won't stop until each and every one of us has been erased from the timeline.”


	12. Last Refuge

“This isn't my element.” Snart called over the comms.

“It's mine.” Mick said excitedly.

“Just keep a weather eye open for the Pilgrim. Gideon calculates a 97% chance that she will attack your younger self in this exact time and place.”

“Young Rory's not in there.” Sara said as she and Jax rushed out of the burning house.

Jax added, “But we found his parents. They're dead.”

Ray ended up narrowly catching young Mick in the fields just before the pilgrim could get to him. We quickly returned to the ship with young Mick in tow.

* * *

I stayed to the side waiting for my chance to swap into the sparring with Sara and Kendra. “You two seem calm,” Kendra noted.

Sara paused in swinging her bo staff, “What, you mean considering a temporal bounty hunter is trying to murder our younger selves?”

“I was gonna put it a little more delicately than that, but yeah.”

I hummed, “at some point you get used to living with the unexplainable.”

Sara twirled her staff around preparing to strike, “I think at some point, you just learn to live with a sword over your head. Either you're getting better or I'm getting lazy,” she said as Kendra blocked her swing with ease.

“I happen to think it’s you getting lazy,” I told Sara as I swapped in for Kendra.

Sara laughed between swings, “So it seems like you decided to ignore the advice from Old West you about not being with Ray.”

“Ooh,” I gasped, “what advice?”

“Ignoring her advice about Ray was your advice, remember?” Kendra said as she took a breath.

“Don't listen to my advice,” Sara said offhandedly, “So did you tell him what she said?”

“Oh, sure. ‘Hey, Ray, by the way, the woman I met in 1871 was me. And she told me our love was doomed to fail because you're not Carter.’”

“Ooh, fatalist advice,” I said as I managed to get past Sara’s guard and whacked her with my staff, “you’re definitely getting lazy.”

Sara narrowed her eyes at me, “So that was a no?”

“Look, Ray and I are happy together. We should be able to enjoy that before I have to drop the whole doomed-love-affair thing on his head.”

“Yeah, I mean, who wants a relationship based on honesty and communication? Ugh,” Sara joked as we stopped sparring. I smiled at the easy camaraderie that fostered bonds within our pack.

“Believe me. A relationship based on an ancient Egyptian curse doesn't work much better.” Kendra said before we restarted a three way spar.

* * *

Sara and Mick retrieved young Sara from Star City where the Pilgrim was attacking her. Sara joined us on the bridge, “I put her in the cargo bay with mini you, told them both to stay put. The less they know what's going on, the better.”

“You sure you want to leave daddy's little girl with that punk?” Mick asked without looking up from whatever he was fiddling with.

Sara scoffed at him, “Even before the League of Assassins, I knew how to handle guys like you.”

Jax walked towards the console, “Has Gideon figured out the Pilgrim's next target yet?”

“That's peculiar,” Rip said,  _ can’t be good. _

Kendra took the words right out of my head, “Peculiar or bad?”

“Gideon, run another scan for the whereabouts of the Pilgrim.”

**_I'm sorry, sir. The timeline shows no temporal distortions. I seem to be unable to track the Pilgrim._ **

“That doesn't sound good,” Ray said looking down at the console. 

“No, it's quite the opposite,” Rip said worriedly.

I moved forwards leaning into Ray, I asked, “So what does that mean?”

“Without a way to track the whereabouts of the Pilgrim, she could target any one of you at any point in time,” Rip said ominously.

“Gideon was tracking the Pilgrim's temporal wake. I didn't think it was possible to conceal one's movements through time,” Stein spoke passionately.

“Well, it is if the Time Masters are on your side.”

“How does this all work? If she can travel to any place at any time, she could be killing any of us right now.” Ray spoke up from where we had moved to stand closer to Kendra.

“And if we die in the past…” Stein trailed off inquiringly.

“We die in the present,” Rip finished.

“Wow. So interesting. How long does it take for what happens in the past to affect the present?” Ray started on his science brain inquiries, “Could I be dead right now and not know it? Maybe I am dead right now. Hello? Can anybody hear me?” I laughed nudging him with my hip as Kendra looked at him amused.

“No,” Snart spoke, ending Ray’s science train.

“Look, the important thing is not to panic.”

“Somebody's playing Russian roulette with our younger selves. Why would we panic?” Jax stressed.

“Well, there are a few exceptions. Kendra's ability to reincarnate means that it would do the Pilgrim no good to target her. Chloe was important to the timeline until about two years ago, and though the time masters are always hesitant about killing omegas because of how important they are to the natural order of humanity. That does not exempt her from the Pilgrim’s mission parameters. And as a former Time Master, to remove me from history would be quite dangerous to the timeline.” 

“Well, that's convenient,” Snart spoke as he looked away from Rip.

Rip turned to him, “And what's that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing.” Snart started, “It just occurs to me you've never told us about your past, Rip. And I don't trust a man with secrets.”

“Look, the less information you have to offer on me, the less valuable you are to our now numerous enemies.”

“Like I said, convenient.”

“Are they fighting?” Sara spoke suddenly from where she was looking at one of the side monitors.

“This is not a fight. It's merely an exchange of ideas” Rip defended his tiff with Snart.

Sara spoke louder, “No, not you. Them.”

“Ah ha!” Mick laughed as we watched young Sara slap his younger self. Sara looked dismayed as she left to go deal with the kids.

* * *

“What the Pilgrim did, the way she turned our attacks back on us, it was as if she was reversing time,” Stein spoke amazed as he, Jax and Rip stepped onto the bridge.

Rip quickly explained, “It's called temporal micro-manipulation. The ability to control time in one's immediate vicinity. We are lucky to have saved Dr. Palmer.”

Sara walked up to the console from behind Rip, “So basically we have no idea who she's going after next.”

“We know it's not Rip, because he doesn't have a past to go back to.” Snart said tartly.

“Gideon, prepare for multiple time jumps. Plot points here, here, here and here.” Rip said putting in four dates, June 2, 1972, March 16, 1950, September 12, 1993, and June 8, 2013.

“My birthday? Why are we…” Jax asked confused.

Rip started to answer before trailing off once Stein had figured it out, “The only way to ensure you're not harmed in your past…”

“Is to abduct ourselves as newborns, thus removing ourselves from our future timelines. It's brilliant,” Stein said, finishing Rip’s explanation.

“It's morally questionable,” Snart drawled from behind us.

Mick butted in moving to join us around the console, “It's suicidal. If we take too long in getting them home…”

Rip went on, “Then history is altered. There won't be a home to go back to. You'll disappear from the minds of everyone who's ever known you.”

“You mean, my own mom won't even know me?” Jax asked.

Stein added sadly, “My wife.”

“Yeah, and my... oh, yeah. I don't have anyone,” Mick spoke harshly before walking away.

“Sure as hell beats dying.”

* * *

“We've got Mr. Snart's younger self. Next stop is you, Professor, and you, Mr. Jackson. And then Miss Kane you are an entirely more complicated matter.”

“How strange to imagine, holding one's infant self,” Stein spoke in as usual amazement, as Rip went to walk out.

Rip paused at Stein’s words, “Actually, none of you should participate in your own abductions. Let's call it paradox prevention.”

I snorted, “Yeah you’re going to need my help to kidnap a younger me.” I walked out with Rip to figure out the logistics of kidnapping me.

* * *

“June 8th, 2013, sixteen year old me is leaving Gotham. Don’t underestimate me.”

“Can’t be that hard to kidnap a sixteen year old.”

“You didn’t know me at sixteen, I had already had extensive combat training as well as magical training. Making a sixteen year old me an extremely powerful, lethal, and angry person that’s just itching for a fight.”

“So how are we going to get younger you?”

“You’re going to need to be very fast.”

* * *

I laughed at how disgruntled Mick, Snart and Sara looked after managing to grab younger me. “I told you not to underestimate me.”

* * *

“We're here,” Rip said after we jumped to a destination that was unknown to us.

Snart was the first to speak, “Where is here?”

“Come, I'll show you,” Rip said simply. I could feel something, it was a strange feeling emanating from the pack bonds,  _ it must have something to do with double versions of us around _ .

“Again, where is here?” Snart asked as we walked next to an older style cottage.

Rip explained, “We need a safe harbor to keep your younger selves.”

The door to the cottage opened and an older omega in blue walked out, “I've been waiting. It's good to see you,” she said to Rip as she adjusted his clothes.

“It is good to see you too, Mother.”

* * *

“So, this is where Rip plans on keeping our baby selves.”

“If all goes according to plan, we'll only be here for a few minutes, then presumably never remember.” Stein said,  _ how optimistic. _

Ray surprisingly spoke, “When's the last thing anything went according to plan?”

“I don't think there was a last time,” I laughed as Kendra spoke.

Rip turned to us, “I really would sit up if I were you,” He said to Jax. “She'll kill you if she catches you slouching. Don't be fooled by appearances. That woman is as tough as nails.”

“Funny how you never mentioned having a mother.” Snart spoke from his seat on the window sill.

“Everyone has a mother,” I said as I leaned into Kendra.

“Adoptive mother. Now, can I interest any of you in some more tea?” The older omega said firmly as she walked back into the sitting area we were in.

“Thank you,” Stein said respectfully as he accepted her offer.

“So, Michael…” She spoke again.

Kendra spoke up laughing in amusement, “Michael?”

“That's me. My birth name.” Rip explained.

“The Time Masters insist on the adoption of new identities for their protection.” Rip’s mother explained the second name.

Jax asked her, “How do you know so much about the Time Masters?”

“I work for them. Oh, don't worry. My true loyalty is to my children.” She said as she looked at Rip with the eyes of a proud mother.

“Thank you. The Time Masters fill their ranks with children, orphans pulled from throughout the course of history”

“When Michael arrived at the Refuge, he had nothing but the clothes on his back. There's a reason it's called the Refuge, and a reason that it exists in a secret location in history. The Time Masters will never think to look for you here.”

“Thank you for your assistance.” Stein spoke for us all.

Snart addressed Rip’s mother, “Look, I know I make a gorgeous baby, but I should warn you. You've got your hands full with me.”

“Yeah, I’m gonna be problematic too. I’m in a very angry teenage space,”

“I assure you, you're not the first tough cases to arrive at my door,” Mother said as she turned to look pointedly at Rip.

* * *

Rip called for us over the ship intercom, “Everyone please report to the main deck immediately.”

“What's going on?” Sara said as she entered last.

“Gideon has intercepted a trans-chronal beacon. Gideon, show them.”

The Pilgrim appeared on the screen, “This message is for Rip Hunter. I'm going to make this very quick and very simple. If I can't find you, I can find those you love,” she said as pictures of people in our lives started flashing across the screen: Snart's sister, Sara’s dad, Ray's ex-fiance, my sister Mary, and Jax’s father. “All of them will suffer and die because of you. Your family, friends, anyone you've ever cared about. Unless you surrender your younger selves to me.”

“So she can erase you all from history,” Rip muttered.

“If it's of any comfort, you won't feel a thing. As for your loved ones, I cannot promise the same thing.”

We were all disturbed after the message played through, “Gideon, I take it that the Pilgrim's transmission included a carrier frequency through which she can be contacted?”

**_Yes, Captain._ **

“Hail her, please.”

“What are you planning to do?” Stein asked suspiciously.

Pilgrim answered quickly, “Captain Hunter.”

“Look, I'm gonna make this easy.”

“I already have. The lives of your team's nearest and dearest for their younger selves.”

“And I'm gonna counter that demand with an offer of my own. I will surrender myself if you spare the lives of my crew and their loved ones.”

“A noble gesture. But worthless. My directive is to eliminate your entire team, not just you.”

“Yes, well, I'm not talking about me now. I'm offering you me in the past. Rip Hunter before he became a Time Master. Eliminate him, and this team will never have been.”

“If this is some kind of trick... It's no trick. Enough people have died at my expense. Gideon will send you the location.” Rip said as he ended the call to the Pilgrim. “And, Mr. Snart, your wish is about to come true. You're going to meet my younger self.”

* * *

We arrived at some defunct complex, with a plan that had some huge holes in it. We all moved into position anyway hoping that this would actually work.

“Remember, we wait for Ray's cue.” Sara told Snart and I for the fifth time.

“I'm in position,” We finally heard from Ray. We launched ourselves out of our hiding spots moving to attack her from all directions. One by one she started to freeze us. 

Suddenly her abilities stopped working, “Thought you could snuff me out? You don't know me at all, miss,” said mini Rip. Sara pulled him to the side as our attacks finally hit her all at once combining they disintegrated her leaving nothing but ash.

“That's you,” Mick said looking at Rip as mother led his younger self away.

“Yeah. I was a cutpurse from the age of five. Starved more than I ate. I knew what I'd do if she tried to harm me.”

“Lucky for us, you didn't forget your roots.”

“Believe me, Mr. Snart, I've tried.”

* * *

“Ugh. Just pulled younger me's head from out of his ass.” said as he walked onto the bridge.

“I'm not sure it stuck,” Ray said jokingly.

“Me either. Then I saw younger Rip change, and I thought, why not give it a shot?” Mick said as he moved to stand by the console, I sat next to Snart and leaned slightly into him slowly letting him adjust to my closeness as I released relaxing pheromones.

Stein spoke to Sara, “Surprised you didn't advise your teenage self to not get on a certain boat.”

“Yeah, me too.”

Snart got fed up with the mushiness, but didn’t move away from me, “Yak, yak, yak. I thought we were on a clock here.”

We all went silent as Rip spoke, “Indeed we are. Time, the history from which your younger selves were removed, is beginning to set... as is evidenced by the change in Clarissa's memory.”

“Okay. So how long do we have till these changes stick,” Jax asked.

Mick was the one to answer, “No one knows.”

“Which is why we need to move swiftly to locate Vandal Savage if any of your lives are to be restored to normal.”

Kendra spoke, “So how long will it take to determine a new location for Savage?”

“Longer than we have. Fortunately, there is one place in time that we know Savage to be.”

“You said he conquered the world in 2166.” Mick said.

“You also said it was too dangerous to strike at Savage while he was at the height of his powers,” Stein added.

“That it is. But with your younger selves removed from history, we have quite literally run out of time.”


	13. Leviathan

Kendra spoke, “So how long will it take to determine a new location for Savage?”

“Longer than we have. Fortunately, there is one place in time that we know Savage to be.”

“You said he conquered the world in 2166,” Mick said.

“You also said it was too dangerous to strike at Savage while he was at the height of his powers,” Stein added.

“That it is. But with your younger selves removed from history, we have quite literally run out of time.”

* * *

“Maybe picking up here wasn't the brightest idea,” Sara said as we were rocked back and forth by the explosions happening around the ship.

“Unfortunately, we no longer have the luxury of blindly searching for Savage throughout history,” Stein tried to be consoling as we all clutched at our seats.

“Indeed; we have to target Savage at the time and place that we're certain he will be, which is…”

Mick cut off Rip’s explanation, saying, “Right before he wastes your family.

* * *

What?”  _ He may need a lesson or two on how to be tactful when dealing with others. _

Rip looked back perturbed, “Yes, Mr. Rory, Savage will kill my wife and son in three days' time, but we can save them and the world by stopping Savage now.”

**_Captain, I've managed to slip beneath their artillery fire._ **

“Set us down on the outskirts of the city, Gideon, near the encampment of the remaining resistance forces. We are going to need to proceed swiftly.”

Stein spoke concerned, “I realize your family is in jeopardy, but perhaps some deliberation…”

“We really don't have the time, Martin. According to Gideon, Savage is going to be out in the open tonight... vulnerable. Now, in order to capture him, I require the services of…”

“A killer, klepto, and pyro?”

“Bingo.”

* * *

After the failed attempt to grab Savage, Kendra was filling Rip, Sara, Ray, and I in on something to do with a bracelet. “My bracelet... I was wearing it the night of my first death.”

Ray saw the importance of that statement before she could continue. “That's great. Not the death part. That's terrible. But you told us that objects present on the night of your death can be used to kill Savage. You're my fiancée. I listen to you.”

Sara interrupted Ray and Kendra’s little moment, “And that's sweet, but there's still one small problem. It's a bracelet; how are you supposed to kill Savage with it?”

Rip quickly butted in, “A question we will answer the moment we have obtained it. We need our resident kleptomaniacs to steal that bracelet.”

“Well it will certainly make for an unorthodox weapon,” I said a little skeptically.

**_Captain, I've detected movement 300 meters southwest of our position and closing._ **

“Savage's army,” Ray asked.

**_Negative. I believe they are all that remains of the resistance forces._ **

“I'm going to make contact with them. They might have information on Savage that we can use to our advantage. In the meantime, Ms. Lance, get Ms. Saunders ready. Ray.” Rip looked towards me in consideration, “Miss Kane,” he said motioning for me to follow.

“How am I supposed to teach someone to fight with a piece of jewelry?”

“Good question.”

“It wasn't rhetorical.”

“Think outside the box,” I said as I followed Rip and Ray out.

* * *

Rip took Jax, Stein, Ray, and I to make contact with a resistance refugee camp. “Thank you, gentlemen and lady, for accompanying me on this excursion.”

“Oh, no problem. I just love hiking through the woods in the middle of World War III.” Jax said sarcastically.

“It was either this or try to figure out how to use a bracelet as a weapon.”

Stein spoke in trepidation, “What if, instead of encountering these resistance fighters, we meet up with more of Savage's forces?”

“Why else do you think I brought along Firestorm, The Atom, and a sorceress? 

Suddenly the area around us was lit up and we had guns in our faces, “Give me one good reason why we shouldn't blow you straight to hell,” said the woman in charge.

“Better yet, give her several good reasons.”

“My wife and son live in Whitechapel.”

The woman winced, she lowered her weapon as she said sadly, “It was hit hard.”

“I know. The same fate will befall you if you don't accept our help.”

“How do we know you're not with Savage?”

“Because if we were, you'd be dead right now. Look, feel free to shoot us, but from the looks of it, you could use all the allies you can get.”

We were escorted to their main camp. The woman gave Rip some quick information, “Whitechapel fell 11 days ago. We have a lot of refugees. You think your wife and son are among them?”

“Sadly, I'm confident that they're not. Still, we would like to help in whatever way we can.”

I spoke up as I looked around at all the people, “You’ve got a lot of injured people, I have medical training, I’ll do whatever I can to help.”

“Very well; get yourselves acclimated, and I'll rejoin you shortly.” She said before turning to walk away. She paused as the wind shifted, “You’re going to want to keep her close, Savage has recently started hoarding omegas.”

I winced at her words and Rip quickly looked at me, “We will,” he said before she walked away. “Miss Kane, Perhaps you should return to the ship,” he said hesitantly.

I lightly glared at him, “like hell, these people need help and I am going to do everything in my power to help them.”

He sighed, “just try to remain inconspicuous.” I nodded at him as he and Ray walked away.

Jax saw a little girl sitting by a fire, “Hey.” he said as he approached and handed her a candy bar from his pocket. More kids ran up looking at Jax to give them some too, “Uh, I would've brought more, but…”

“Jefferson. Jefferson, let's... let's return to the ship, and we'll bring back those additional provisions. Don't worry. There's plenty more where that came from. We'll be back.”

“No need,” I said as I moved forwards. Kneeling down I took off the backpack I carried, I pulled out multiple boxes of granola bars which I handed to Jax and Stein so they could distribute to the kids.

When we finished handing the kids the bars, Jax moved closer to me and asked, “How did you manage to carry so much in that bag?”

I spoke quietly, “I didn’t. I used the bag as a cover to pull stuff out of a pocket dimension.”

* * *

Stein, Jax, and I had barely gotten back to the ship when we were called to the study. “Vandal Savage has a daughter,” Ray asked, sounding as shocked as we all felt.

Stein spoke incredulously, “Apparently it's true. There's a lid for every pot.”

“And this lid is gonna be very upset when he finds out that we took his pot. You know what I mean,” Jax said.

I leaned into Snart’s side where he was leaning against the wall, as he spoke up, “So what's the problem? It's not like we're on Savage's Christmas card list.”

“And we snagged the bracelet. You're welcome, by the way.”

“We need to weaponize that thing before Savage knows that it and his daughter are missing,” Ray said urgently.

“Actually, I think I've got that figured out,” Kendra started, turning to Mick she continued, “But I'm gonna need you to burn something for me.”

Mick looked happy to have the chance to burn something, “About time.”

“We also need to figure out what we're going to do with our new guest,” Rip said.

“She's seen us and the ship. If she runs back to Savage, we're giving him a huge advantage,” Sara stated the tactical issues surrounding Savage’s daughter.

“So we make her our advantage. We send Papa Savage a finger.” I closed my eyes as Mick started talking like a serial killer. “And we keep sending them till he puts his own head on the chopping block.”

“That is a positively lurid idea. I know we're in the midst of a war, but can't we maintain our honor?”

“I'd rather maintain my life, Professor.”

Ever the calm tactician Sara spoke, “If she is Savage's daughter, then she would know the details of his defenses.”

“Yes, well, how exactly are we going to get those details out of her?”

Snart dislodged me as he straightened, “I'm on it,” he said as he walked out.

* * *

Sara, Ray and I ran onto the bridge after we had taken off suddenly. I grabbed onto Sara after I ran into her as she suddenly stopped having caught sight of the giant outside the window. Sara started shocked, “That's…”

“Incredible,” Ray finished,  _ priorities Ray. _

I leaned my head into Sara’s back as I groaned, “Definitely a problem.” We quickly took seats after Rip had to suddenly jerk the ship away from the giant’s swing.

Rip hurriedly started giving commands, “Ugh! Fire! Now! Hold on to something! Fire, Gideon! Fire everything! Now might be a good time to start praying.” The giant grabbed hold of the ship shaking us around before it reeled back and tossed us.

* * *

Our landing was rough to say the least, we all carefully got up feeling the effect of the crash. Rip sprang up, shaking his head he asked, “Gideon, what's our status?”

Sara snarkily answered him, “I'm gonna go with lousy.”

Rip ignored her and didn't bother waiting for an answer from Gideon. “Shut down all essential systems so Savage's robot…” he started before Gideon interrupted him.

**_Too late, Captain; apparently, it has determined you are still alive, because it is closing in on our location._ **

Stein rushed onto the bridge, “What happened?”

Rip answered him, “We seem to have encountered Savage's megaweapon.”

“And he kicked our ass,” Sara said sassily.

“Gideon, how much time do we have? 

**_I estimate the robot should reach our location within the hour. Our propulsion engine was severely damaged in the crash and is no longer functioning._ **

“So where does that leave us,” Sara asked worriedly.

“Nowhere good.”

Rip spoke moving to exit the bridge, “All right, our only option is to take the Jumpship and try and outrun it.”

Stein grabbed Rip forcing him to stop, “The Jumpship seats seven. The cargo bay's filled with refugees.”

“I'm well aware.”

“Well, we can't just leave them there; we…” Stein trailed off before he clutched his stomach where there was a piece of shrapnel lodged.

* * *

The team minus Jax, Stein, and Ray geared up and headed into the city with Savage’s daughter, Cassandra, to infiltrate the compound and hopefully kill Savage. “Call them. Call the ones that you no doubt helped gain access to my bunker.” We heard Savage say to Cassandra.

“No need to trouble yourself, Miss Savage. We're already here,” Rip said prompting all but Kendra to step forward.

Savage turned to walk towards us, “Oh, I admire your command of irony, Gareeb... Using my own child against me.”

Snart spoke as the one who had flipped her, “Sorry to say it didn't take much.”

“None at all, you ass.”

Cassandra addressed Savage as she shifted to stand closer to us, “They showed me the truth of what you've done. The innocent…”

“Do not speak as if you know anything about ruling a people.” Savage raged,  _ he speaks confidently or a man that rules on a basis of terror, _ “Do you really want to align your fate with these... pretenders? They're nothing but grains of sand in the desert of time.”

“You are a monster,” Cassandra said decisively. We all readied our weapons as Savage’s soldiers came in.

Savage sensed Kendra when she got into position, “She's here. I can sense her. You do realize that she can do me no harm?”

“Clearly, you didn't get the memo,” Mick spoke up. Kendra flew down and grabbed Savage carrying him away as we started fighting with the soldiers. 

Sara spoke over the comms after Rip went in to see if Savage was dead yet, “The reinforcements are coming!”

“Whatever you plan on doing, Kendra, do it,” Mick added as we continued fighting. Instead of leaving the compound with a dead Savage, we left the compound with an unconscious Savage and the reincarnated Carter.


	14. River of Destiny

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> River of Time + Destiny = River of Destiny

“Mission… almost accomplished.” Mick said as he walked out of the study towards us drinking out of a bottle as he went. 

Rip protested his drink of choice, “That bottle of Scotch was given to me by Rob Roy MacGregor in 1689.”

“It's not half bad,” he rescinded before handing the bottle off to Sara.

Sara pointed to Rip with the bottle saying, “We should be toasting to Savage's death.”

Stein somehow having missed the whole point of our crusade spoke, “Apart from celebrating murder, Savage still has Carter brainwashed.”

I leaned across the armrest of the seat to lean on Len’s shoulder. Len spoked up as Sara handed him the bottle of scotch, “I don't know if you've been paying attention, Professor, but murdering Savage was always the plan.”

Mick stood over my shoulder and added, “Besides, Carter reincarnates, which is more than I can say about us.”

Snart handed me the scotch as he stated, “As long as he's on board and breathing, Savage is a threat to everyone on this ship.”

Kendra spoke up, “So what, we just kill Savage and leave Carter a brainless drone?”

“Yes,” Mick grunted.

I rolled my eyes, “I can take a look and see if there’s anything I can do.”

The door to the bridge opened letting in Ray and Jax, “Sorry we're late, but we found something,” Ray apologised.

Jax quickly spoke to explain, “We've been running diagnostics on Ray's suit after his battle with Savage's Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robot.”

Ray added, “The telemetry data included a comparative scan of the robot's tech.”

“Amazing,” Stein started with one of his favorite words, “This neuromorphic profile is astonishingly futuristic.”

“Yeah, it's from 2166,” Kendra said as if that explained everything.

Jax went on, “Well, that's the thing. It's not.”

“This technology's light years more advanced than anything from 2166.”

“Who cares,” Len drawled.

Rip spoke excitedly, “The Time Masters. They refused to take action against Savage because he didn't pose a threat to the timeline.”

Stein linked in the new information, “But if he comes into possession of future technology…”

Rip cut in to finish Stein’s statement, “It means he's been engaging in exactly the same manipulation of time that the Time Council were designed to prevent.”

Sara stood to stand by Rip as she said, “So now they'll finally sign off on undoing all the damage Savage has done to the world.”

Mick spoke up trying to poke holes in relying on the Time Council, “Last time I checked, the Time Council was at the edge of the timeline, and this bucket of bolts can barely hold it together as it is.”

“The ship did take a good beating back in 2166,” I said, reluctant to burst Rip’s bubble of hope.

Rip snatched the scotch Sara had set on the console, “Gideon, what's the status of the Time Drive?”

 **_Stable, Captain._ **

“Plot a course for the Vanishing Point. Tonight, Vandal Savage faces justice for his crimes.” Rip said as he moved to sit in the Captain’s seat, taking a pull from the scotch when he finally sat down. _Well I guess our course is set, but something in my gut is telling me this is not right._

* * *

I drifted around the ship as we made our way to the Vanishing Point. I unconsciously sought out different soft things, my instincts pushing me to nest before my heat hit. I had Gideon fabricate multiple pillows and blankets and took a pillow from everyone’s bedroom. I piled all the blankets and pillows I had gathered on the bed in my room, I carefully layered them arranging the stolen pillows to blend the pack’s scents into my nest. Once my instincts were satisfied I left my room to roam the ship.

* * *

I eventually made my way to the bridge where I sat and leaned against Mick, his scent a reassuring presence. **_Time Drive reinitialization complete, Captain. The primary systems are back online and stable._ **

Rip spoke from where he was working under the console, “Begin ignition sequence and resume our route to the Vanishing Point.”

I winced as Mick spoke to Stein angrily, “You're a fool, Professor.”

“I'm trying to save Jefferson's life,” Stein said looking over at Mick unapologetically.

Ray ran onto the bridge coming up behind Mick and I, “Savage has escaped,” he panted leaning against the next seat. A flash of worry went through me at the threat Savage posed to the pack now that he was loose on the ship.

Rip and Sara popped up quickly in shock, “What?”

“I'm sorry,” Ray said contritely from where he was still leaning over the seat.

Rip leaned over the console, “Pull up all the surveillance monitors, now,” he commanded Gideon.

 **_I'm afraid Vandal Savage has already freed Carter Hall, and is preparing to disengage..._ **

“That can't be good.” Sara said looking down at the console screen.

Stein looked down at the console and spoke worriedly, “Gideon's entire operational matrix is offline. And without her help…”

“We'll have to make our approach the old-fashioned way,” Rip said as he turned to face Stein and Sara.

Mick gently dislodged me and leaned forward, “Shouldn't we be more worried about Savage and his brainwashed crony,” he said grumpily.

Rip turned to Mick rubbing his palms together, “Yes. Which is why I need you and Dr. Palmer to go and recapture him.” He turned to look back at Sara and Stein saying, “In the meantime, if the rest of us can't figure out how to pilot the ship without Gideon, we're never gonna be able to leave the Time Stream.”

“And me,” I asked Rip, unsure where I could be more useful.

Rip turned to me, “I believe the best place for you is right here on the bridge, Miss Kane.”

Mick stood form where we were sitting, “If we live through this, you bumbling idiot, I might just kill you,” he said to Ray angrily as they left the bridge.

I followed Rip, Sara, and Stein into the study. Rip moved quickly grabbing some rolled up papers before moving towards where we were at the table. “Exactly how old-fashioned are you talking,” Sara asked, eyeing the papers suspiciously.

Stein started reaching for some of the papers Rip put down opening them up he said, “So, if the Time Stream is like this vast river, these maps plot the safest course along that river's path.” Sara and I were just a little confused.

Rip pointed at him, “Exactly. I keep these here just in case of emergency,” he said as he looked over the biggest map.

Sara spoke as we started looking at the map Rip had, “Well, this certainly qualifies. What's Jurgens Ridge?”

“Pray you need never find out,” Rip said without looking up.

Sara and I looked at each other quickly, “So nothing good,” I said as I started to calm down my tactical training taking precedence over my instincts and oncoming heat.

Rip finally looked up, he moved around the table handing Stein a device, “Martin, you're gonna be our engineer. I need you to adjust our energy output to avoid over-taxing the Waverider.” He circled around reaching Sara and I, “And you two, Miss Lance, Miss Kane, you're gonna be our navigators.”

“I was League of Assassins, not NASA,” Sara protested. I didn’t bother knowing someone had to do it and we’d have a better chance if we worked together than if just one of us did it.

Rip quickly grabbed the map and moved to the center console on the bridge, “I need someone who can make tough calls under extreme pressure. No one fits that description better than you two.” I blinked, _he has so much confidence in us, it’s astounding how far we’ve come from the ragtag group of misfits that could barely stand each other to what can tentatively be called a pack._

“We need more power to the Time Drive, Martin. How much further can we push it?”

“25%, and only for a brief burst. But it might be all we need.”

“What's our trajectory looking like, Miss Lance Miss Kane?”

“Just give us a second here.” Sara said as I pointed out a route on the map.

Rip snarked at us, “Well, oddly enough, as the Vanishing Point is at the very end of time.”

We figured it out, so Sara spoke for us as I kept studying the map, “Yeah, and we're never gonna make it there if you don't lower the ship negative 12 degrees on my mark. Three, two, one, now!” Rip reacted quickly to Sara’s command, the ship shook as it shifted.

“Did it work,” Stein asked.

“Well, we're not dead.” Rip said in response to Stein. We heard the sounds of fighting moving closer, “They seem to be getting closer.”

Sara quickly volunteered, “I'll go help them.”

Rip shot her down just as quickly, “No! I'm not gonna place another one of you in jeopardy... I'll go.”

“But who's gonna pilot the ship,” Sara asked incredulously. Rip looked at her before he walked out. Sara moved deliberately to the Captain’s chair and sat down.

* * *

Rip came back to the bridge when Savage was back in his cell. He stood behind where Sara was sitting in the Captain’s chair, “Is that...” Sara trailed off in askance.

Rip confirmed our location, “Welcome to the Vanishing Point.”

“I can't believe we made it,” Stein spoke in amazement.

Sara looked back at Rip noting the burn on his shoulder, “And what did you do to your shoulder?” I moved closer to poke at it making sure he was alright.

Rip absentmindedly answered as he tried to move away from my probing fingers. “Hmm? Oh, I might have jumped in front of a laser blast intended for Miss Saunders. What? I couldn't have my team thinking I cared more about myself than them, now, could I?” I smiled triumphantly as he finally gave up at escaping my care.

Stein deadpanned, “Really?”

“Uh, I think I just lost control of the ship.” Sara said as the ship jerked and the controls locked up.

Rip looked unsurprised as he confirmed her conclusion, “Yeah, that might have something to do with us being the most wanted time criminals in all of history.”

A man popped up on the screens, “Timeship Waverider, we've taken control of your guidance systems. Disable your weapons and prepare to be boarded,” he said in a no nonsense tone.

“Oh, it's good to be home,” Rip replied sarcastically.

“Captain Hunter. This is unexpected.”

“Well, I have a reputation to maintain, don't I? And I hereby request an immediate assembly of the Time Council in accordance with General Order 52.”

“So you've returned to answer for your crimes?”

“No. I'm here to justify them.”

* * *

I snuffled at Mick as he finished the bottle of scotch we had been sharing. He looked into the bottle after he finished it and grunted, “Damn.” 

I snorted into his shoulder, “Did you expect it to last forever?” I noticed something on the monitor that was in the room, “We’re about to have company,” I said pointing to the screen.

Before we could do anything armored men stormed into the cargo bay we were sitting in. “Ah, if you're here for Savage, you're too late,” Mick said.

I pooled my power under my skin as more men came in dragging Kendra and Ray between them, “Mick, what's going on,” Ray asked.

One of the men spoke up, “You're under arrest.”

“Oh.” Mick said as he went to reach for his gun, I flared my power into a bolt in my hand, we stopped as they all cocked their weapons, “If I had a nickel for every time I heard that.” One of the men stepped towards me and grabbing my arms he placed magic inhibiting cuffs on my wrists. I winced as I immediately felt my magic retreating as it was locked away just out of my reach. I knew I could break through them with time, but would it be soon enough to get out of this mess before my heat fully set in.

* * *

The team minus Len and Sara were placed in cells with Rip. I pushed at the block on my powers the cuffs created, knowing that they weren’t made for long term use and didn’t work well past a certain power threshold. “Martin, are you okay,” Kendra asked as Stein started coughing sporadically.

Stein coughed before he started speaking from where he was sat propped against the corner of his cell, “I'm required to merge with Jefferson... periodically in order to maintain nuclear cohesion.”

Mick snarked at him, still angry at not being able to return to 2016 before we reached the Vanishing Point, “Then sending him away on the Jumpship probably wasn't the greatest idea.”

Stein spoke impenitently, “Given the circumstances we're under, I'm surprised any of us are alive.” At Stein’s words I tuned out the world around me focusing inwards I worked to push at the cuffs. I was determined to destroy them and free my power.

Suddenly, I was snapped back to reality as someone grabbed me after opening my cell. Opening my eyes I lashed out at them, I could see them carrying some sort of device and I know it could mean nothing good. I could hear Kendra fighting the men who had her as I started on the ones entering my cell. Distantly, I heard Ray protesting their treatment of Kendra and myself. I screamed as one of them men managed to affix the device to my forehead, it burned as if someone had set a fire in my brain. I don’t know how long it lasted, I blacked out as I could feel my magic lash out. 

I don’t know how long I was unaware, but I felt the moment my magic broke through the inhibitor cuffs. Magic flooded my body, I could feel it numbing the pain, trying desperately to destroy the device causing my pain. It overwhelmed me, I could hardly breath, and I had no clue where all the power was coming from, I had never tested the full breadth of my abilities. Suddenly the pain stopped and my magic settled. I could still feel the lingering effects of the device as I stirred. I saw that I was being gently carried by Len, I burrowed my head into his shoulder before I drifted back off to let my magic finish healing me.

* * *

I woke up in the med bay fully healed from my time with that device on my head, if I was a little magically drained at the moment, well more rest would take care of that. I was starving though and that was always a good first step towards replenishing one’s magical reserves. I made my way to the galley catching the tail end of a conversation between Ray and Mick. Mick was speaking, “Well, you better because if you tell the team I actually care, I'll shave your head. Man, this is good.” He started to walk out before he saw me standing on the other side of the door smiling at him. I have no idea what the conversation was about but I was just happy that he does care about the pack. He looked me in the eye daring me to say anything, I just smiled happy pheromones slipping out. I saw his lips twitch before he caught himself and scowled before he moved past me. I made my way into the galley joining Ray at the island where he was eating cupcakes. I grabbed one as I snuggled into his side.

* * *

The team made our way towards the bay doors Stein talking the whole time, “Based on Captain Hunter's description, the Oculus is a massive temporal computer, most likely powered by a scaled-down supernova contained at the bottom of the Wellspring. Why aren't any of you more excited by this?” He asked, finally seeing how little we cared about the science behind the Oculus.

“We’re not all physicists, profesor,” I chuckled at him.

Sara spoke after me, “We're excited to blow it up,” she smiled.

Rip reminded us all of the plan once again, “Dr. Palmer will deactivate the core contained supernova, which should create an anomalistic event.”

Stein spoke as Mick looked at Rip confused, “A very big explosion.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Mick nodded. 

We stepped out of the Waverider and walked towards the Oculus’s power source. One of the Time Masters and a bunch of armed men came out from behind the different structures blocking our approach. “Hello again, Rip. Right on schedule,” the older Time Master said.

“Uh, I think we've walked into a trap,” Ray said after we became surrounded by armed men. _As usual nothing is going to go according to plan._

“No, it's destiny. I must say you've all played your parts well. As with everything else you've done, I'm afraid it was all for nothing.”

“All your posturing. All your claims about doing what's best for the timeline, about protecting history, and it all comes down to cold blooded murder.”

“The difference between murder and execution is only a matter of authority. I have it. You don't. Kill them,” the Time Master said. Before anyone could move a ship started firing blasts at the men surrounding us.

The ship continued firing, taking out all the men that surrounded us. “Hope I'm not too late,” Jax said as he walked towards us having gotten out after landing the ship.

Stein walked forwards, “No, Jefferson, you're right on time,” he said before clapping hands to merge with Jax.

Rip spoke confused, “How did you…”

Jax smirked triumphantly, “What? You thought you were the only one who knew a thing or two about time travel?”

“Good work.” Rip said before returning us to the mission at hand, “We need to get to the Oculus before reinforcements arrive.”

We moved on reaching the building that housed the Oculus’s source. Rip held us back as Ray moved to the source, inspecting it Ray spoke, “Take about two minutes to figure out how to self-destruct this thing.”

Rip quickly split us to best guard Ray while he worked to destroy the Oculus, “We'll buy you some time. You lot guard the entrance. Mr. Rory, you're with me.” Sara, Firestorm, Len, and I strode back out of the building preparing to meet whatever reinforcement came. When they did we quickly engaged them holding the line, I fell back into familiar combat techniques melding hand to hand combat with magic uses, not wanting to risk running down my magically reserves in case of an emergency.

As we took out the last of the men before us, Rip ran up to us, “We're leaving.”

“Where's Raymond and Mick?” Len asked the first to notice their absence.

Rip looked back worried, “Ray is in my pocket and Mick has elected to stay,” I whimpered in worry as I calmed my breathing, feeling the effects of my near exhausted reserves and the fight we had just finished.

“Why?”

“Someone needs to be present to destroy the Oculus. Mick has elected himself.” Rip explained, Len turned to make his way to where Mick was and Sara followed quickly after him. “No, no, no, no, no, you can't. There isn't ti…” Rip trailed off as he saw them pay him no mind. My heart sunk I knew someone would not be coming back, we would lose a pack member. I wondered if this would break us; as weak as our bonds were, as it had my last pack.

Firestorm shouted after them, “We gotta go!”

* * *

We sat on the bridge in the aftermath of the Oculus explosion. Everything was silent as the ship moved through the temporal zone. Ray spoke into the quiet, “He traded his life for ours. He was a hero. Which I'm pretty sure is the last thing he wanted to be remembered as.”

“But that's what he was.” I snuggled deeper into Sara as she started to cry. Barely holding back my own tears I flooded the bridge with pheromones hoping to comfort what remained of our pack. As I worked to hold us together I could feel the beginnings of my heat set in.


	15. Legendary

I was hazy as Rip walked us off the Waverider back in Star City 2016. Mick grunted out, “What are we doing back here?”

“Savage has a timeship, courtesy of the Time Masters. The timeline is unclear, due to our destruction of the Oculus, meaning Savage is lost to history. Which is why I brought you all home.”

“Mission's not over, man,” Jax spoke up protesting Rip’s decision.

Ray agreed with him adding, “Jax is right. We've lost Savage before. We'll find him again.”

“And then what? We have no way of killing Savage, particularly now that Kendra and Carter are in his possession, assuming that they're still alive, which is highly unlikely.”

“So that's it? We're... we're just giving up?” Ray spoke again protesting harder.

“Do we get a choice in this?” I asked absentminded as I started to drift from the soft heat starting to fill my veins.

“I'm on my way to the refuge to retrieve our younger selves and return them to the timeline. It will be as if you never left.”

Sara spoke up sarcastically, “What, you think that we can just return to our old lives, and then pretend like none of this ever happened?” _Not likely._

“Mm, that might be a tad difficult. So I had to bring you back to May 2016, not January 2016.”

“Great, so what you're saying is for the last five months, my mom probably thinks that I'm dead. Thanks a lot, man,” Jax said sarcasm dripping from his voice.

Sara spoke confused, “Okay, wait, why? Why the change of plans, Rip?”

“If you're getting back on that ship, we get back on that ship,” Mick said as he poked at Rip. The thing was instead of hitting Rip his finger went right through the image of Rip that started fritzing out.

“In truth, I never left it. I'm sorry for all that I've asked of you, and that it all came to nothing. I wish you all well.”

“I never liked that guy.”

* * *

Everyone slowly started to drift apart after the Waverider took off, Ray moved towards where I stood hazily as the first stages of my heat set in. I leaned into his side snuffling at him taking in his comforting presence. Mick looked over at where I was with what looked like a flash of concern in his eye, but he quickly turned away and left still not comfortable being part of a pack. Sara moved over to Ray and I, she brushed a hand against me as she scented my heat, she and Ray quickly started discussing plans to coax me through it. They escorted me out of the lot, we moved quickly and by the time my heat was in full swing we got to an apartment somewhere. I whimpered as a fire burned in my veins. I longed to feel skin on my own to be filled, to be knotted. I sighed as I felt the press of skin against my own. Everything moved quickly after that and I was lost to the haze of it all aware of Ray and Sara’s presence but not much else. Days later the haze lifted. I could hear the beating of Ray’s heart under my ear, feel Sara behind me running her fingers through my hair. I relaxed between them and drifted into a light doze, I was aware of Sara rising to leave. I hummed as she whispered in my ear that she was going to check in with her family and would see us later.

Eventually I woke refreshed, sore, and starving. I gently roused Ray knowing we could both use some food. We ended up at Big Belly Burger, I moaned as I bit into my burger, “so good. I didn’t realize how much I missed fast food.”

Ray chuckled before looking into the distance, “do you feel like we left something unfinished? Like we abandoned Kendra and Carter?”

I put down my burger thinking it over for a moment before I responded, “Yeah I do. We all got on the ship to complete a mission.” I breathed deeply before I continued, “the mission still isn’t done and we all lost five months and a team--a pack mate to the mission,” I winced at the fresh memory of losing Len.

Ray looked at me seriously, “so what are we going to do about it?”

“We’ll need the rest of the pack and the Waverider.”

* * *

We left Sara a message before heading to Central City to find Mick. We found him pretty quickly, he was robbing some bank. Ray and I bribed the idiot that was supposed to be the getaway driver and waited for Mick to come out. He got into the car after barbecuing the other idiot he had been working with. “Hey, Mick. Oh, it... it's me. It's Ray. I-I thought we should talk,” Ray talked quickly pulling off his ski mask to show Mick his face.

“I told him not to wear the mask,” I said as I leaned forwards from the backseat, “And where’s this Flash that’s supposed to be protecting this city?”

I pouted as Mick ignored my question, “Drive.”

Ray pulled his mask back on before speeding away from the bank. He pulled into a garage on the other side of the city. He and Mick climbed out of the car. Mick started pacing while Ray leaned against the door. “Well you didn't waste any time getting back to your old habits.” I climbed over the seat to sit behind the wheel, _Ray can sit in the back._

Mick stopped turning to look at Ray, “I like stealing stuff. It makes me feel good.”

I poked my head out the open window to comment, “it’s kinda fun too. Isn’t it?” Mick smirked and chuckled his agreement while Ray looked at me a little disbelieving.

I pulled my head back into the car when Ray turned back to Mick, “Did you ever think that maybe you weren't meant to do this anymore?”

“What do you want, haircut?”

“To apologize, sort of. For Snart. I was the one who was supposed to die, and I can't help feeling that…” I grabbed Ray’s hand and pressed it to my cheek hoping to reassure him that neither option would have been acceptable.

I was glad when Mick cut him off, “It wasn't your fault. It was his. Son of a bitch never did anything without a plan.”

Ray gently pulled his hand from my grasp as he stood up and started walking towards Mick, “Maybe you're right. Maybe he wanted this.”

“What are you doing with your hand?”

“Maybe he wanted us to, you know, be partners.” I smiled at Ray’s enthusiasm.

“Think I'm going to be sick,” _he still hasn’t gotten used to the fact that we’re a pack or almost a pack._

“I think Snart knew. He knew that I'd keep an eye out for you, and you'd keep an eye out for me.”

“While doing what?”

“What we haven't finished doing.”

* * *

We heard Jax as we walked through the lot Rip had left us in, “Ship's not going to be here, Gray. We saw it take off, remember?”

“Yes, and in doing so, it would have left a…”

Ray finished Stein’s sentence as we walked towards them from the car, “Quantum signature. That's what I've been trying to tell Mick. Radio beacon,” Ray said as he waved the device he had spent all night making.

“Quantum entangler,” Stein said, indicating his device.

Mick stopped them from geeking out, “Boring. When do we get in contact with Hunter?”

Sara stormed over to us with a dark look on her face, “Ms. Lance, are you all right,” Stein asked.

Sara ignored him, “How do we get the Waverider back here?”

We waited after Stein and Ray turned on their devices. “I don't understand. This should have worked,” Ray said, he and Stein went over a couple of things that could explain it.

“Did you account for subspace interference?”

“It's the first thing I thought of. Did you adjust for temporal polarity?”

“Oh, Raymond, you insult me.”

“Can you reach the Waverider or not,” Sara asked impatiently. I moved towards her and gently released calming pheromones not sure why she was so upset.

Ray and Stein answered in sync, “We're working on it.”

“Actually, guys, I think it just worked,” Jax said pointing out the Waverider as it flew towards us. Ray and Stein high fived as it landed.

Rip stormed out, “I thought I made my intentions perfectly clear.”

Stein spoke for us all, “And we wish to be equally clear about ours.”

Rip spoke as Mick shoved his shoulder, “Do you mind?”

“Just checking to see if you're real this time,” Mick explained, rightly justifying his action.

Jax spoke firmly, “You're not ditching us again. When the mission's over, then we can all go our separate ways.”

“And this mission is not over,” Stein said decisively.

I piped in, “I hate leaving things unfinished.”

Ray agreed with us all, “Yeah, just curious how much headway you've had tracking Savage without all of us,” he pressed his point.

“None. But neither have I got myself into bar fights in 1975 and the Old West, put dwarf star technology into the hands of terrorists, or got myself turned into a scary bird monster.” We all had to reluctantly agree with Rip on those points.

Mick stepped up to make our stance clear, “We get your point. Now get ours. That ship's not taking off without us. You got that?” Rip looked us all over seeing the determination on our faces, and Jax gesturing towards the ship he reluctantly nodded.

* * *

We walked onto the bridge as Rip spoke, “Despite my wishes to pursue Savage alone, it seems that you're all intent on seeing this thing through till the bitter…”

Suddenly Sara shoved him against the wall and punched him in the face.“Oh! Speaking of bitter,” I whacked Mick as he laughed.

I moved forwards to intervene but was held back as Sara started talking, “You knew. You dropped us off five months later because you knew.” Sara held Rip against the wall with a knife to his throat. 

“Knew what,” Jax asked in confusion.

Sara went on, “You knew that Laurel was going to die, and now you're going to take me back, and I'm going to save my sister.” I quickly worked to flood the bridge with calming pheromones trying to deescalate the situation.

Rip spoke quietly, “I'm afraid that that…”

“You should be afraid,” Sara spoke harshly, cutting him off.

“I can't allow you…”

Sara stayed angry despite my attempts to calm her, “I don't care about the timeline. You're taking me back now.”

Ray spoke up hesitantly trying to help, “Look, Sara, I'm sure there's a valid reason why Rip didn't…”

Sara turned away from Rip to yell at Ray, “Stay out of this!” When she turned back Rip held up the device to knock her out. Mick knelt down hauling her over his shoulder as she collapsed.

Jax reeled, “What the hell, Rip?”

“Mr. Rory, take Ms. Lance to sleep it off.” Rip sighed ignoring Jax, he walked into the study. I followed Mick as he carried Sara to her room and placed her on her bed. Climbing up I moved putting her head in my lap, I started gently running my fingers through her hair and released calming pheromones so she hopefully wouldn’t be so distressed when she woke.

When she woke she sat up and moved to the edge of the bed, where she started to silently cry. I slid forwards embracing her from behind I rested my head on her back. I started to purr as I felt her heart breaking. I sat with her until she finished crying and dried her eyes. I continued to sit with her offering her my presence, knowing she wasn’t ready to accept anything more.

I peeked over Sara’s shoulder when the door opened, “Please try very hard not to kill me," Rip said as he cautiously walked in.

Sara spoke, she sounded so broken that my heart hurt, “Rip. Please take me back. I need your help. I need to save my sister.” I leaned farther into her providing her all the support I could.

Rip spoke so softly that we almost couldn’t hear him, “And you know that I would do this for you, Sara, but I just can't.”

Sara broke out of my hold she stomped up the Rip anger flaring, “I've not asked you for anything. And you of all people should understand.” I rose from the bed moving to leave, I knew they needed to have this conversation without me. I nodded to Rip and brushed my hand against Sara’s as I passed them.

* * *

**_We've arrived in Saint-Lô. No sign of Kendra yet, but I have located Vandal Savage, and he does not seem to be alone._ **

We moved quickly upon our arrival. Reaching the spot where Savage was attacking the Nazi convoy we moved behind them knocking them out to get to Savage. “Get them!” Savage signalled his soldiers when he saw us.

We engaged them as Rip spoke over the comms, “Keep Savage and our Nazi friends occupied. Gideon has detected a temporal signature consistent with a timeship. If Kendra and Carter are alive, that is where they're going to be.”

Firestorm was able to scout out the ship from the air, “Yeah, I see it,” was said over comms. The fight continued as Firestorm went to get Kendra and Carter, “Kendra's down,” Firestorm said from where he and Carter were in the air.

Sara, Mick, Ray, and I moved to cover each other as we began to be overwhelmed, “Rip, we're kind of outnumbered here,” Mick reported.

Rip spoke, “Fall back. Staying here to fight Nazis is exacerbating the damage that we have already done to the timeline.”

“But Kendra…” Jax trailed off worriedly.

Rip stopped him before he could do something stupid, “Is alive, thankfully, and we will rescue her in due course.”

* * *

St. Roch 2021

Rip, Carter and I watched Savage’s men unbox the meteorite from behind a fence box. Savage stood by where Kendra was bound to a ventilation shaft. Carter shifted angrily, moving to get to Kendra, Rip grabbed him before he could blow our cover, “Patience, Mr. Hall. All our teams need to act simultaneously.” Savage moved to the meteor, he poured some of Kendra and Carter’s blood on it as he started chanting. When it was time, Rip turned to us nodding, “Now.” We launched out from behind the fence moving to attack Savage’s men. I launched myself at the foot soldiers ducking under laser fire or throwing up shields to deflect them. I glimpsed Kendra joining the fight launching herself in full winged glory at one of the soldiers. “Rip,” Carter called just before Rip got sent over the side of the roof by a laser blast.

We paused in shock, _no not again_ I thought _we just lost someone_. Then, we saw Rip come back up on the roof of the Waverider, I laughed in relief before going back to beating up Savage’s soldier’s. I noted that Kendra and Carter went after Savage himself. Rip and I dealt with the rest of Savage’s men before we moved over to Kendra and Carter watching as Kendra dug one of Savage’s knives into his chest. Rip rushed forwards and grabbed Savage, “Ah, you can feel it, can't you? Things are different this time. You're mortal.” Rip taunted Savage pushing the knife in harder.

Savage sputtered out his own taunt, “But yet, my death does not save the lives of your family. I may die, but you'll live knowing that you failed to save the lives of…”

“Aah!” Rip screamed as he threw Savage into the generator. “Never speak their names again,” he finished as Savage collapsed, finally dead. 

The Waverider appeared and the rest of the team quickly made their way out. “Damn it! I wanted to be the one to kill him. Again, I mean.” Mick said, _I guess everyone was successful._ Rip bent over with a sigh of relief.

We turned as Sara arrived, “Um... I don't think our problems are over yet.”

“Fuck,” I said hearing the meteor start to sound like a machine being powered on.

Firestorm landed, “I'm on it,” he said as he slammed a hand onto the meteor.

“On what,” Mick asked confused, as we all gathered around the meteor.

“It's not working,” Firestorm said as nothing happened.

“I got this.” Ray said ripping another side off the crate. A red beam shot out of his suit before it fizzled out, “I don't understand. I must be all out of power.”

“What happens if only one of these goes off,” Sara asked.

Rip looked up, “Uh... time will remain intact. The world? Not so much.”

“Okay, guys, let's fly this thing out of here,” Firestorm spoke to all of us that could fly.

Kendra spoke up, “To where? We would never get it far enough away.

“I could try to contain it,” I proposed, trying to find a solution.

“Maybe the Waverider can. Rip, we need…” Ray said trailing off as he looked for Rip, “where’s Rip?” We looked as we heard the Waverider powering on.

“And the meteorite?”

The Waverider jumped into the air moments after it had flown off. “Will somebody please tell me what just happened,” Ray asked.

I patted Ray on the shoulder, “let’s go find out.”

We walked onto the Waverider, looking around the place was trashed. “Rip,” Kendra called worriedly.

”Sorry if I gave you all a fright,” Rip said calmly.

Sara asked, “What happened to the meteor?”

We walked further into the ship as Rip started explaining, “Uh, I flew it into the heart of the sun. Well, I angled the ship to eject the meteorite before impact, and then, uh… time jumped away.”

“You could have been killed.”

“Should have been. You're a moron.”

“Now, who fancies a return trip to 2016?”

“Can the ship even handle that without repairs?” I asked as Rip forced the door to the bridge open.

Kendra spoke in relief, “I can't believe it's over.”

“Well, for some of you, yes. My journey, it seems, is only just beginning,” Rip said.

“How does that work? Savage is three times dead,” Mick said as we gathered around the console. I was uncertain of where the pack would go from here.

“The Time Masters are no longer of growing concern, due to our destruction of the Oculus. Someone needs to be responsible for protecting the timeline. Who better than a former Time Master? And any of you who'd like to join me.” Hope bubbled up inside me, _I think that maybe we’ll be just fine._

* * *

“So for the last five months you’ve been traveling through time to kill an immortal hellbent on taking over the world.”

“Pretty much.”

“And now that you’ve done that you're what coming back to Gotham to try and live a normal life,” Mary said skeptically. “I don’t think that’s going to work too well. You need to go to Star City tomorrow and get back on that ship because there’s no way you can pass up on the adventure of a lifetime.” Mary paused before she continued a little quieter, “I think if you don’t go you’ll regret it for the rest of your life.”

“Thank you Mary you have assuaged all my doubts, and I will be eternally grateful. Unfortunately I can’t let you remember this conversation.” I quickly whispered a spell that wiped her mind of our conversation and replaced the memory with one about my nonexistent travels.

* * *

The whole team had gathered at the lot to return to the Waverider. Right on time the ship appeared and Rip walked up to us, “A full complement.” Rip chucked before going on, “To be honest, I had my doubts that all of you would be willing to throw in with me for a second go.”

Carter spoke up, “Well, actually…” he trailed off, “We're not coming with you.” Kendra finished before Carter spoke again, “With Savage gone, we want to start fresh, see what happens.”

“I give it three months, tops,” Mick chuckled doubting their relationship would last.

Kendra shook her head before stepping forwards, “Look, I just... I want to say thank you. To all of you. Ray, I…”

Ray cut her off, “No. This is... it's meant to be. I wish both of you nothing but the best.” They hugged before they both stepped back.

I darted forwards throwing my arms around Kendra, I tried to convey that she would always be welcome with us even though she was leaving. “Be safe,” she said before I released her.

“See you guys around,” Carter got in the last word before they took off.

We watched them fly away. “Every time they do that, I get hungry for chicken,” I choked on a laugh as I slammed my elbow into Mick’s side.

Rip looked to us, “So, shall we,” he said before he started to lead us to the ship.

We stopped as we heard the sound of a ship time jumping. Looking up, “Is that…” Sara asked, wondering if we were seeing things right.

“The Waverider,” Rip confirmed.

“Another Waverider,” Stein asked amazed.

Ray spoke as it continued its course at high speed, “Whatever it is, it's not slowing down.”  
  


We started backing up as Jax yelled, “Get down!” The other ship crash landed on the other side of the lot. “What the hell's going on?”

Rip glanced at Jax before refocusing on the new ship, “To be honest, Mr. Jackson, I have absolutely no idea.”

A guy in a black hood emerged from the ship, “Is this 2016? Is this May, 2016?”

Jax answered, “Yeah.”

Hood guy, who now that he was closer I could smell was an alpha, spoke amazed, “You're exactly where you said you'd be.” He turned serious fast, “Do not get on that ship. If you do, you're all dead.” I bristled, _is he threatening us, I dare him._

“Says who?”

“Says you, Mr. Rory. You sent me.”

Rip stepped closer to Hood, “I'm sorry. Who exactly are you?”

“My name is Rex Tyler. I'm a member of the Justice Society of America.”


End file.
